New scheme to save young people money on mobile phone bills
A new mobile phone scheme could help young people across the UK save up to £40 million on their mobile phone spend.
It comes after an in depth study by One Poll has revealed that UK 18 – 24 year olds spend an average of £260 a year or £21.75 a month on mobile phone expenditure. In nearly 15 per cent of cases the average monthly mobile phone spend is over £36 a month.
Feedback from the 2,000 UK 18 – 24 year olds questioned revealed that in two thirds of cases, they nearly always spend over what they were budgeting for. Nearly half (43 per cent) revealed their mobile usage was so important to them that they would rather cut back on buying new clothes than on their mobile phone expenditure, whilst almost a quarter said that they would rather forego food than keeping in touch.
It comes as record numbers of young people use social media on smartphones and are increasingly rating their data allowance as a priority for them. The vast majority of respondents have an allowance of up to 500MB per month, and approximately one in five prioritised keeping in touch online over calls and texts, with almost a third of those questioned admitted they would stay in touch more with friends and family online if they had a greater data allowance included as part of their mobile phone plan.
In response to the findings, Orange has launched a revolutionary new offer designed specifically for the youth market. The only offer of its kind available in the UK, the new U24 (Under 24) offer has been developed to meet the needs of young people, giving them extra calls, texts and mobile data on top of their current plan at no extra charge.
Customers receive free unlimited UK calls and texts to anyone on Orange and T-Mobile and an additional 1GB of free mobile internet data per month. The deal is open to under 24-year-old, new and existing Orange pay as you go customers who top up by £15 or more a month, as well as pay monthly customers on plans of £15 or more a month.
Orange has also launched the U24 app. Available from Apple, Android and BlackBerry app stores, the app checks the customer’s address book and highlights those contacts that are with Orange and T-Mobile so that customers can easily see which of their friends and family they can talk to and text for free.
Commenting on the launch, Simeon Bird, Director of Propositions, Orange UK: “We’re pleased to be able to reward our younger customers with such a great offer. Whether they’re going away to university, or starting out in a new career, with U24 we’re hoping to make life a little easier, providing them with an extra mobile data allowance and the potential to call and text over 27 million people as often as they like – all for no extra charge.”
Visit orange.co.uk/U24 for more information.