Value-added services are the products a telco sells beyond connectivity: content subscriptions, cloud storage, device insurance and, increasingly, digital goods. Gaming credit is the under-used line on that list, and it fits how telco customers already pay better than most of what currently fills VAS catalogues.
The case rests on two observations: the audience already spends money on games every month, and prepaid game credit behaves like airtime, a product telcos have sold for decades.
Why value-added services matter
Headline connectivity is priced to the bone in most markets, so growth in revenue per user has to come from somewhere other than the tariff. Value-added services do two jobs at once. They add revenue on top of the plan without touching its price, and they give the customer more reasons to stay: someone who buys three things from an operator leaves less readily than someone who buys a SIM. Neither effect needs a precise figure attached; both are the standard reasoning behind every VAS programme.
The usual suspects, and the gap
Most VAS catalogues look alike: a streaming bundle, cloud storage, a security app, device care. These are workable products with a shared weakness. The customer can buy each of them anywhere, and the subscription form means one sale per customer, then a flat line.
Gaming credit and gift cards behave differently. The audience already spends: players top up Roblox, buy Steam and PlayStation credit and recharge mobile games on a monthly rhythm, so the telco is intercepting a habit rather than creating one. And prepaid mechanics match telco billing habits: a customer who tops up airtime weekly understands buying game credit in fixed denominations without any tutorial. The purchase shape is one the base already knows.
Two ways to deliver it
Carrier billing partnerships put game purchases on the phone bill through direct agreements with publishers or billing intermediaries. Friction at checkout is minimal, which is the model’s strength. The weaknesses are commercial: each publisher is a separate negotiation, revenue shares are set by the publisher side, and the telco carries billing risk on postpaid accounts.
Catalogue resale sells gift cards and top-ups inside the telco’s own app. One contract with a distributor or aggregator covers hundreds of brands, delivery is instant (a code on screen or a direct credit to the player’s account), and the telco earns a trade discount on face value instead of negotiating brand by brand. Time to launch is measured in weeks because the integration is one catalogue API, the same pattern superapps use for digital goods.
The two models coexist. Carrier billing suits impulse purchases inside games; catalogue resale suits deliberate purchases in the operator’s app and gives the telco control of merchandising.
Bundles worth testing
Game credit combines well with what the telco already sells. A data-plus-credit pack aimed at gaming audiences (a monthly data allowance with a game credit code attached) gives a reason to pick the operator that neither part does alone. Seasonal versions, holiday or back-to-school packs, reuse the same plumbing. The bundle also solves a discovery problem: the customer meets the digital goods shelf while buying data, not through a campaign.
The operational fit
Telcos are already digital goods retailers in one category. Airtime is sold through the app, USSD, retail counters and reseller networks, on prepaid float, with reconciliation to match. Gift cards and game top-ups reuse those rails: same purchase flows, same float logic, same channel partners, one more catalogue behind them. The adjacent connectivity products, eSIM, airtime and data bundles, come from the same catalogue family, so a second line is cheap to add once the first is live.
What to measure
Two numbers tell you whether the line works. Attach rate: the share of active app users who buy a digital good in a month. Repeat purchase rate: the share of buyers who come back within a set window. Judge both on cohorts a few months in, not on launch-week spikes, and watch which brands drive repeats; the catalogue should be pruned toward them.
Frequently asked questions
What are value added services in telecom?
Value-added services are products a telco sells beyond core connectivity: streaming and content bundles, cloud storage, device insurance, financial services and digital goods such as gift cards and game credit. They exist to raise revenue per user and reduce churn by giving customers more reasons to transact with the operator. Delivery usually runs through the operator’s app, bill or retail channels.
Why should telcos sell gaming gift cards?
Because the demand already exists and the mechanics are familiar. Players in a telco’s base top up games and buy platform credit monthly from whichever storefront is in front of them, and prepaid credit in fixed denominations behaves like airtime, which the base already buys. The telco gains a purchase habit it can intercept, repeat volume rather than one-off subscriptions, and a product with no logistics.
How do telcos add digital goods without building a catalogue?
Through one contract with a distributor or catalogue aggregator. The provider supplies the brands, prices, stock and delivery (codes or direct top-ups) behind a single API; the telco supplies the storefront surface and the audience. This avoids brand-by-brand negotiations, and the same integration later carries adjacent lines such as eSIM and international airtime.
What is the difference between carrier billing and catalogue resale?
Carrier billing puts in-game purchases on the phone bill through direct deals with publishers or billing intermediaries; checkout friction is minimal, but each publisher is a separate negotiation and the telco carries billing risk on postpaid accounts. Catalogue resale sells gift cards and top-ups in the operator’s own app through one distributor contract, earning a trade discount on face value. The models coexist: billing for impulse buys in games, resale for deliberate purchases in the app.
How should a telco measure a gaming VAS line?
Watch two cohort numbers rather than launch-week totals. Attach rate, the share of active app users buying a digital good in a month, shows whether the shelf is being found at all. Repeat purchase rate, the share of buyers who return within a set window, shows whether the habit is forming, which is where gaming credit should beat subscription-style VAS. Judge both a few months in, and prune the catalogue toward the brands that drive repeats.