Your next bank could be the app you already use to pay friends, buy food and for a flight, and listen to music. Now, AT&T is collaborating with Gigs, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE), to let businesses integrate the prepaid cellular service right within their software—no stores, no separate signup or kiosks and instant activation in minutes over eSIM. Early commercial partners include fintech names such as Klarna and OnePay, suggesting a future where connectivity is just another feature in your favorite apps.
From app store to phone service in minutes
MVNEs like Gigs offer the plumbing — systems for billing, SIM provisioning, fraud checks, number porting and customer management —so brands don’t have to start their own carrier from scratch. Think of it as “connectivity-as-a-service.” It’s next-to-hands-off, and for the first time you don’t even leave the app — a plan is offered at checkout; your identity verified; you’ve spun up an eSIM and lit up service on AT&T’s network without ever getting handed off to a carrier website.
Unlike traditional MVNOs who launch stand-alone brands for themselves. Gigs is designed for companies looking to integrate a service offering into an existing experience, not spin out its own carrier. Because recent phones are capable of remote eSIM provisioning — and Apple rendered iPhones in the U.S. eSIM-only beginning with iPhone 14 activation can be nearly instantaneous on recent iOS and Android devices.
Why carriers are allowing the floodgates to open
Distribution is king. People are more loyal to the apps they use every day than their phone company, and carriers know it. Wholesale partnerships allow networks to monetize services without the expensive retail marketing and support effort, making the partnership itself offer a stickier feature that increases engagement and reduces churn. Analysts estimate that prepaid and value segments make up about a quarter of U.S. lines, and MVNOs have a durable double‑digit share — plenty enough to incentivize a model change.
eSIM is the catalyst. Rapid global adoption of eSIM‑enabled smartphones has been observed by GSMA Intelligence, and many new flagships are already enabled for eSIM. With remote provisioning, a plan can be bundled with other services (cashback offers, credit tools or travel benefits) and activated with a tap. It’s the app-store-ization of connectivity.
What’s new with the AT&T–Gigs model
One interesting wrinkle: Gigs-powered plans can clearly advertise that they operate over AT&T’s network. A lot of prepaid brands either don’t say who their host network is or they do a bad job of obfuscating it behind an in-house label, and that means a buyer may not be sure whether coverage is comparable to the big guys. Clear attribution was a way to minimize friction at sign‑up and reduce oncoming support tickets with questions from users about “Will it work where I live?”
It’s also a vote of confidence from AT&T, which is betting that more transparent wholesale will grow the pie rather than cannibalize its flagship plans by making it easier for competitors to undercut them. T‑Mobile has taken a similar approach with its “Your Name, Our Wireless” campaign, in which it portrays the network as an enabling platform for others to start from.
The road ahead and early adopters
Fintech and the rest of us in tow.
Klarna and OnePay want to embed connectivity inside financial apps that will open up the possibility for bundles – creative mixes such as a pay‑in‑four option stitched together with a starter data plan, or a debit card that offers an enhanced level of cashback when you pay your phone bill via app. The playbook is already out there — European fintech Revolut, for instance recently added in‑app eSIM travel data through a carrier partner—suggesting how quickly these bundles can scale.
Count on movement in messaging, creator platforms and productivity suites. A chat app might sell a discount data pass that pays for its own traffic. A gig-work platform might provide a priority support contact and mobile data stipend baked into a plan. Organizations might be able to issue managed lines among their contractors within their workforce apps with pre‑applied policy controls.
What consumers get to keep
If done correctly, this model should be simpler and less expensive. Transparent, major network coverage, eSIM activated instantly and billable where you already pay for other services are tangible perks. Apps can also customize plans — short‑term data passes when you’re traveling, family add‑ons, or plans with in-built fraud alerts and identity protection — because they already know what your usage and payments are.
And bundling can be powerful. Think rewards‑back on your mobile bill, discounted fees for auto‑pay, or included international roaming that kicks in when your phone touches down abroad. These are the sorts of value adds carriers find difficult to generate on their own.
Risks: support, safekeeping and fine print
The weak link is frequently customer service. The American Customer Satisfaction Index has been warning about so-so satisfaction in wireless for years, and offloading support to chatbots inside non‑telecom apps isn’t going to suddenly cure that. Port‑out fraud, form jacking and SIM swap attempts, as well as ID verification, is an even bigger headache when number management spans dozens of apps.
Look out for data deprioritization, hotspot limits and fees buried in the fine print.
The Federal Communications Commission has called for more transparent labeling of plan terms; you can probably expect that level of scrutiny to be applied to app‑embedded offers. If you require business-class reliability or ahead-of-the-line access, check it out — wholesale plans typically reside at the bottom of the traffic pile compared with postpaid flagships.
The bottom line
Carriers are platforms and apps are distribution. AT&T’s collaboration with Gigs is an indication of how fast that connectivity can be unbundled from the old retail approach, and re‑bundled into other software people already adore. If those trends for transparency and support continue, buying a phone plan inside an app may move from novelty to the norm — and make “who is your carrier?” a trick question.