Cellphone plans for seniors offer more service, lighter data
NEW YORK—More and more older adults own smartphones than ever before, but adoption rates for seniors still trail the overall population. That’s a business opportunity for a handful of small cellular services companies.
According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, the share of adults 65 or older who own smartphones is at 42{b163ed859cc9a16ba73837184ee02d2cdeccd9aa6dd670f1698634a383290a0c}, up from just 18{b163ed859cc9a16ba73837184ee02d2cdeccd9aa6dd670f1698634a383290a0c} in 2013. And nearly three of four people in that age bracket, Pew reports, say they need help with their new electronic devices.
During its 22 years in business, Portland, Ore.-based Consumer Cellular is laser focused on this older segment of the market, which co-founder and CEO John Marick contends has been all but abandoned by the largest wireless carriers.
Consumer Cellular leases lines from AT&T and T-Mobile under a reseller arrangement known to the industry as an MVNO, shorthand for Mobile Virtual Network Operator. It sells phones and offers discounted service to the AARP crowd, and has succeeded where many MVNOs have failed.
It’s not the only company paying attention to seniors. GreatCall out of Carlsbad, Calif., also sells phones aimed at the older crowd, including the $149.99 Jitterbug Smart, which features built-in health and safety apps tied to service plans. For example, under a $24.99 health and safety package, seniors can get 24/7 access to doctors and nurses and get medication refill reminders. The company also sells the Jitterbug Flip, a $99.99 flip phone with bigger buttons that also lets seniors summon help in an emergency.
Read more at Chicago Sun-Times.
