Key Points
- Smartphone penetration among older users in the US is close to that among younger age-groups, and other countries are seeing similar trends
- Italy’s senior-focused plans have the lowest monthly price, but aren’t always the most cost-effective
- T-Mobile’s basic plan in the US offers a good mix of low monthly cost and high data
- Senior-focused plans should have similar data allowances to standard plans, or at least offer zero-rated messaging and communications apps
Background
Since the previous version of this report, the underlying trends of aging populations and greater technology adoption among older consumers have continued. Smartphone penetration among adults aged 50 and over in the US has risen to 91%, according to research from AARP, with specific age groups (60-69, 70-79, 80 and over) showing similar rates of ownership. They are also buying other smart technology, from tablets to smart home and smart security tech.
Digital services to manage health and finances, or simply for entertainment, are a key driver for older adults’ uptake of smartphones and other tech, just as they are for younger adults. Familiarity is also a factor: a 55-year-old smartphone user today would have been 37 when the first iPhone came out in 2007, and so would have been at the right age to both afford the new technology and get accustomed to using it.
Types of Senior Plans
Most senior-focused mobile plans are just discounted versions of the plans available to all consumers. They offer the same amounts of voice, texts and data as the mass-market plans, and increasingly bundle video and music streaming apps, like Netflix or Spotify.
The notable exception to this rule is Italy, where TIM and WindTre offer plans explicitly aimed at older users. Senior-focused plans in Italy continue to treat older users as value-conscious consumers, offering lower prices than mass-market plans, but in contrast to plans aimed at younger users, data allowances have typically been lower as well.
Finally, although smartphone penetration among older consumers is up near the level for the rest of the population, some people just aren’t interested in smartphones. Unfortunately, their options are increasingly limited, as mobile network operators in the US and Europe have effectively phased out plans for feature phones, even if they do still sell non-touchscreen phones. AT&T no longer offers its Senior Nation plan, which cost $29.99 and came with no data allowance.
The fact that mobile plans are almost exclusively focused on smartphone users isn’t a negative in itself. However, smartphones tend to be designed by and for younger or more able-bodied people, which means accessibility for people with lower vision, hearing and manual dexterity is frequently an afterthought. Unfortunately, not enough of the operators that offer senior-focused plans also sell phones that are designed with older users in mind.
US
Senior-focused mobile plans in the US are just discounted versions of operators’ existing plans. On the positive side, this means that older users enjoy the same voice, text and data allowances as they would if they had the regular plans. On the negative side, both AT&T and Verizon still offer their plans only in Florida, meaning that users outside that state have to sign up to one of T-Mobile’s plans.
| Plan | Monthly price (US$) |
|---|---|
| AT&T Unlimited 55+ | 60 |
| T-Mobile Essentials Choice 55 | 45 |
| T-Mobile Experience More w/55+ | 70 |
| T-Mobile Experience Beyond w/55+ | 85 |
| Verizon 55+ Unlimited | 62 |
Italy
In contrast to the US, senior-focused plans in Italy aren’t just discounted versions of standard plans. Although all major operators, other than Iliad, previously offered senior-focused plans, Vodafone discontinued its Facile plan in 2021, leaving only TIM and WindTre to compete for this segment.
TIM has continued its strategy of offering extremely cheap plans with small data allowances, and in fact has introduced an even more basic plan with just 1GB of data per month, presumably on the assumption that older users are less likely to use apps or the internet. This assumption seems odd, given how widespread IP-based messaging apps are, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or Signal. Offering lower data allowances makes more sense if those messaging apps are zero-rated, as Vodafone’s former plans did, but TIM doesn’t seem to offer that facility.
WindTre has gone in the other direction with its single senior-focused plan. Named 200 Giga per Under 30 e Over 65, it does what it says on the tin: it offers a larger data allowance while targeting two age-groups that want more reasonably priced data. Presumably the 200GB of data are intended for the younger users, but it’s notable that WindTre saw fit to include older users, and it speaks well of the operator that it made that decision.
| Plan | Monthly price (US$) | Monthly data (GB) |
|---|---|---|
| TIM 60+ Basic | 8.80 | 1 |
| TIM 60+ | 14.31 | 6 |
| WindTre 200 Giga per Under 30 e Over 65 | 11 | 200 |
Germany
O2 is the only operator in Germany that offers older users a discount on mobile plans. Its website recommends the O2 Mobile S, M and L plans for older users and presents them with a EUR5 (US$5.51) discount in comparison to the versions of the plans aimed at existing O2 customers, although the same plans are even cheaper for users under the age of 29. O2 also offers the same discounts on plans with unlimited data, with the lowest-priced tier differentiated from the other two tiers by offering slower mobile internet speeds. Regardless of data allowance and speeds, O2’s plans also charge a high connection fee of EUR39.99 (US$44.05), compared with the EUR5 (US$5.51) that most Italian plans charge.
| Plan | Monthly Price (US$) | Monthly data (GB) |
|---|---|---|
| O2 Mobile S | 16.51 | 10 |
| O2 Mobile M | 22.02 | 30 |
| O2 Mobile L | 27.52 | 100 |
Sweden
Tele2 remains the only Swedish operator that offers a senior discount of SEK50 (US$5) on its mobile plans, including a relatively cheap 20GB/month plan and three tiers of plans with unlimited data. Since the previous version of this report, Telia has added a section called “plans for seniors” to its website, but apart from one entry-level offering, the plans on that page are the same ones available to all users.
| Plan | Monthly price (US$) | Monthly data (GB) |
|---|---|---|
| Tele2 20GB Bas | 29.93 | 20 |
| Tele2 Bas | 39.93 | Unlimited |
| Tele2 Plus | 49.94 | Unlimited |
| Tele2 Premium | 59.94 | Unlimited |
| Telia 5GB Bas | 26.92 | 5 |
Comparison
Comparing the various plans side by side, the cheapest plans on a monthly basis are still those in Italy, and the most expensive are in Sweden and the US. That said, the picture is more complicated when considering the average price per GB of data. TIM’s and Telia’s plans end up being relatively more expensive because their data allowances are so small compared to their monthly price. Ironically, while T-Mobile’s monthly price is the highest, its data allowance is large enough that the price per GB is in the lower third of entries.
| Operator | Price (US$) | Data (GB) | Price/GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-Mobile US | 45.00 | 50 | 0.90 |
| TIM | 8.80 | 1 | 8.80 |
| TIM | 14.31 | 6 | 2.38 |
| WindTre | 11.00 | 200 | 0.06 |
| O2 Germany | 16.51 | 10 | 1.65 |
| O2 Germany | 22.02 | 30 | 0.73 |
| O2 Germany | 27.52 | 100 | 0.28 |
| Tele2 Sweden | 29.93 | 20 | 1.50 |
| Telia Sweden | 26.92 | 5 | 5.38 |
With regard to unlimited data plans, US plans remain the most expensive, followed closely by those in Sweden. The other main differentiator is the extra benefits included in each plan: T-Mobile’s two higher-tier plans offer upgrades every two years or every year (for the most expensive tier), as well as free access to streaming services like Netflix, Apple TV Plus and Hulu, as well as increasing amounts of hotspot and roaming data.
While O2’s lowest-tier plan may appear to offer more value, its download speeds are significantly lower than the two higher-priced plans, offering 15Mbps vs 300Mbps. Meanwhile, Tele2 differentiates its unlimited plans with higher data roaming and overseas calling, and its highest-priced plan also bundles in video streaming services like Disney Plus.
| Operator | Price (US$) |
|---|---|
| AT&T | 60 |
| T-Mobile US | 70 |
| T-Mobile US | 85 |
| Verizon | 62 |
| O2 Germany | 27.52 |
| O2 Germany | 33.03 |
| O2 Germany | 44.05 |
| Tele2 Sweden | 39.93 |
| Tele2 Sweden | 49.94 |
| Tele2 Sweden | 59.95 |
Among unlimited plans, T-Mobile previously offered the most competitive plans, on the strength of its add-ons, but given its price increases since the previous version of this report, that’s no longer the case. It may have a captive audience, given that it’s the only US operator offering senior-focused plans outside of Florida, but O2’s unlimited plans are significantly cheaper and Tele2’s highest tier offers equivalent benefits at a notably lower price.
On the other hand, T-Mobile’s cheapest plan is more cost-effective than the equivalent plans from either AT&T or Verizon, even though it technically isn’t an unlimited plan, given that its data speed is throttled if the customer uses 50GB in a month. Its monthly price may be the highest among plans with data limits, but the cost per GB is lower than most. However, honorable mention goes to WindTre’s plan, which offers the highest data allowance, at the lowest cost per GB.
Although customers can’t choose plans from other countries, this comparison is valuable for showing different operators’ approach to catering to the same group. The best senior-focused plans are those that keep things simple, don’t cost too much, and offer plenty of data. Operators considering launching their own senior-focused plans would do well to consider what older consumers actually want, rather than assuming they’re all befuddled by technology. That said, more operators should offer a greater range of phones, including those that are better-designed for older users.
As a final and lighter thought, we note a growing trend toward long and unwieldy names for mobile plans, the primary culprits being WindTre and T-Mobile. Apart from the problem of fitting long names into tables on a blog, these plan names are hard to remember and frequently a little embarrassing to say out loud. We’d like to commend O2 Germany for sticking to its “S, M, and L” naming convention for mobile plans, and encourage other operators to do something similar.
FRD Innovation Research 