UK telecom distributor GK Telecom is testing a new rewards platform across 170 universities in what looks, at first glance, like a straightforward student loyalty campaign. The more interesting story is what comes after the sale.

PerkNet is being deployed as part of GK Telecom’s 2026 Freshers campaign, which started this week with more than 100 promoters and field staff. The university rollout will test whether rewards can keep customers engaged after they buy or activate a mobile service at the point of sale.

If the trial delivers, GK Telecom plans to extend PerkNet across its wider UK distribution network from January 2027. Mobile News reports that the distributor’s independent retail reach covers around 30,000 outlets.

Rewards beyond activation

Customers download the PerkNet app and register after buying or activating a mobile product, topping up or renewing a service. The app then provides access to rewards from around 2,500 brands.

GK Telecom developed and funded the platform itself and is covering rewards during the initial campaigns. Longer term, operators could fund or co-fund promotions tied to acquisition, activation, top-ups or retention.

For now, PerkNet is being tested mainly with products inside GK Telecom’s own ecosystem, including its eROAMING international travel eSIM service and IoT Mobile SIM-only propositions. The company also distributes products for Vodafone, Three, EE, O2, SMARTY, VOXI, giffgaff and Lebara.

READ MORE: GK Telecom Brings Three PAYG eSIM to Retail

GK Telecom says it is discussing the platform with MNO and MVNO partners as a tool that could sit across several stages of the customer lifecycle.

The distributor says it sells more than 100,000 SIMs per month across multiple networks, giving it a substantial physical base from which to test whether loyalty can follow customers into a digital relationship.

The retail problem eSIM creates

This is where the strategy becomes more interesting.

Physical SIM distribution traditionally gave independent dealers a clear role: stock the SIM, acquire the customer, activate the service and potentially benefit from later top-ups or commissions. eSIM changes that journey. Activation can happen instantly, remotely and increasingly inside an app, website or embedded checkout.

For operators, that is efficient. For independent retailers, it can remove the moment that created the commercial relationship.

“PerkNet gives GK Telecom an ongoing digital relationship with customers after the initial retail transaction and can be used to encourage repeat visits, further purchases and participation in subsequent campaigns,”

said GK Telecom managing director Ravi Navaratnam.

READ MORE: eROAMING Brings eSIM Retail Packs to Travel Stores

The company eventually wants to connect activity in its existing GK Telecom Retailer App with PerkNet rewards and incentives.

“We’ve not yet established a standard recurring commission model for retailers. Commercial arrangements will depend on the operator, product and campaign,” Navaratnam said.

That unresolved piece matters. Rewards can generate engagement, but retailers will ultimately care about economics. If a dealer introduces a customer who later activates an eSIM, renews online or buys another digital product, who gets paid — and for how long?

“The aim is to prevent independent dealers from being cut out of the customer relationship as mobile sales increasingly shift towards eSIM, digital activation and direct online acquisition,” Navaratnam added.

Loyalty is not the differentiator

Rewards themselves are hardly new in UK mobile. Vodafone has VeryMe Rewards, O2 operates Priority, and Three has Three+, all built around discounts, offers and partner benefits. The major operators already understand that connectivity alone is difficult to differentiate.

PerkNet’s potential distinction is not the size of its rewards catalogue. It is the distribution model behind it.

READ MORE: Why Embedded Connectivity Threatens Telecom Distribution?

A platform that lets an independent retailer retain some connection to a customer after digital activation could solve a structural problem created by eSIM rather than merely offering another loyalty benefit. For distributors, the opportunity is to become the layer connecting operator, retailer and end user after the SIM card stops being the centre of the transaction.

There are limits. Customers who already live entirely inside an operator’s app may have little reason to adopt another rewards platform, while operators with mature loyalty ecosystems may prefer their own channels. PerkNet will also need a clearer recurring-retailer incentive if it is to become infrastructure rather than a promotional campaign.

Conclusion

The strongest part of GK Telecom’s PerkNet experiment is not “2,500 rewards.” It is the attempt to answer a question mobile distribution has been avoiding: what is the retailer worth once activation becomes digital?

Vodafone VeryMe, O2 Priority and Three+ show how established operators use rewards to deepen direct customer relationships. PerkNet is testing almost the reverse proposition — whether loyalty can preserve value for an intermediary that digital distribution might otherwise remove.

If GK Telecom can prove that customers return, purchase again and remain attributable to the original retailer, it could create a practical model for independent mobile distribution in an eSIM-first market. If it cannot connect engagement to measurable retailer revenue, PerkNet risks becoming a good rewards app attached to a disappearing commercial role.

The real test is not whether students like the perks. It is whether GK Telecom can turn a one-time activation into a relationship that still has value when there is no physical SIM left to sell.