SENIOR CITIZENS are being seriously neglected as a potentially huge part of the mobile phone market according to Chris Millington, UK MD with specialist supplier, Doro.

He argues that as many as a quarter of all UK citizens will soon be over the age of 65 although he suggest that some 40 per cent of these will have some kind of, um, impairment.

"This sector can only grow," Millington told the INQ. He said it was currently woefully neglected. The network operators are fixated on growing revenues, he complained. [Aren't we all? Ed]

So, they are hardly likely to get too excited by Doro's latest offering in this area – a mobile handset that can receive but cannot send SMS (text) messages – the 328gsm.

By contrast, Millington argues, senior citizens are very loyal so once they have the product – and contract – which they like, they are highly unlikely to 'churn' to another network.

At present, Millington claims his employer, Swedish based Doro, is selling some 30,000 handsets per month across Europe or some 360,000 units per year.

Doro isn't alone in having spotted this opportunity. So has Hampshire based, Burnside Telecom. The company sells a couple of products which are, in effect, mobile phones which look like regular landline handsets and sit on the desktop.

Burnside's David Robson says that this approach has significant benefits for gentle folk. For starters, even the most forgetful senior can remember where the desktop phone is. Unlike a typical mobile phone.

Plus, Burnside's products can be mains powered – so not only don't they run out of juice but the owner doesn't have to remember what happened to the battery charger.

Millington says that his customer actually value their independence so they like to be able to stay in touch while out shopping or simply in the garden. Burnside products can be battery driven but are too bulky to be lugged down the shops.

The INQ has reviewed both products and can see that there is a definite demand for such phones. The trick will be in persuading the likes of a Carphone Warehouse that there is an advantage to stocking them. µ

See Also
Doro 328gsm INQ review