Operators Jump on the Premium Generative AI Bandwagon

With AI set to dominate the technology agenda again in 2026, telecom operators are keen to capitalize on this opportunity. In the consumer market, they’re bundling premium AI services like ChatGPT Plus or Perplexity Pro into mobile plans through partnerships with AI providers. As well as adding value and pizzazz to mobile plans, these partnerships help the AI companies to monetize their tools, improving their cash flow to fund significant investments and clean up their balance sheets as potential IPOs loom.

There are several motivations for operators to offer AI services to their customers through partnerships. It could drive higher spending from subscription sales of the service or encourage people to take higher-tier plans in cases where premium access to an AI service is bundled. It could also improve customer retention. This is particularly important given the growing competitive threat from mobile virtual network operators.

An Easy Decision for AI Providers

Against this backdrop, operator–AI partnerships are gaining pace. AI start-up Perplexity has been at the forefront of partnering with operators, offering customers the opportunity to use its AI-powered search engine, Perplexity Pro, for free for up to 12 months. Operators that have bundled Perplexity Pro into their plans include Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Singtel in Singapore, Sunrise Switzerland, Optus in Australia and Telkomsel in Indonesia. The deals give access to Perplexity Pro to over 250 million subscribers across three continents.

Perplexity is a search engine that uses large language models to provide answers from the web, citing sources in its responses. Founded in August 2022, its features made an immediate impact on the market, putting pressure on competitors including ChatGPT-maker, OpenAI, to offer similar features.

OpenAI has also turned to operator partnerships to encourage adoption of its premium offerings. However, the terms offered to mobile customers have frequently been less generous than those offered by Perplexity. For example, Orange might provide 12 months of free access to ChatGPT Plus when customers sign up to its 5G+ standalone plans, but SK Telecom offers just two months and O2 Telefonica Germany offers three. The shorter trial periods reflect ChatGPT’s position as the market leader with its 1 billion monthly users, which reduces its need to rely on extended free access to drive awareness or demand.

A Cautiously Receptive Market

Our research suggests that mobile phone customers are cautiously receptive to this opportunity. In a recent CCS Insight survey of UK consumers, respondents were asked if they would be interested in free short-term access to a premium AI service.

The responses showed that 26% would sign up. A further 32% of respondents said that their decision depended on which tool was offered. This is a good indicator for ChatGPT Plus, given that it already has strong market recognition.

However, the responses also show that over 60% of people wouldn’t immediately sign up to this type of service, even if it was offered for free. We believe this is because consumers don’t feel they need a premium generative AI tool in their day-to-day lives and are satisfied with the basic versions to handle relatively simple or occasional queries.

As education and understanding about using generative AI improves, we expect interest to grow. Crucially, 84% of 25- to 34-year-olds in our survey said they would be interested in signing up to the premium AI service.

Expect More Partnerships

As operators and AI companies collaborate to target a small but growing group of people willing to pay for premium generative AI tools, the success of this strategy depends on two trends. Firstly, it relies on people signing up to premium generative AI tools for their advanced functionality and not cancelling the premium subscription once the trial is over. Secondly, it needs the introduction of advertising into the free tiers of generative AI tools, encouraging people to upgrade. However, since people are used to generative AI being free, it’s unlikely that many would continue to pay just to avoid adverts.

The take-up of these premium AI services may be limited, but I’m expecting more operators to attempt to take advantage of their position in the value chain and bundle digital services together by partnering with AI providers. Look out for more partnership announcements this year, possibly as soon as MWC 2026 in March.

Find out what else to expect from MWC in our latest webinar, which is free to watch back here.