Telenor Denmark has announced the launch of three new subscriptions for children and young people, providing more data in more countries as well as new security services. The one for children under the age of 13 costs DKK 119.00 (US $18.80) per month, including the operator’s NetSikker security service and filtering. It provides five hours of talk time, unlimited on-net calls and 5 GB of data, all of which can be used in 55 foreign countries.

There are also two new 5G-ready subscriptions for people under the age of 24, both providing unlimited talk time and NetSikker security and filtering and 20 GB of roaming data in 55 countries. One plan provides 50 GB per month altogether and costs DKK 149.00 (US $25.53) per month, while the other has unlimited data and costs DKK 199.00 (US $31.43) per month.

The three new subscriptions come with different forms of the NetSikker security service, which Telenor started providing to all of its retail customers earlier this year. This service provides legal advice and help in cases of identity theft or unauthorized photo and video sharing.

Tarifica’s Take

Telenor’s suite of youth offerings is interesting in that it gives an indication of the growing power of this segment of the market and how its needs are driving operators’ plan architecture. While it is certainly nothing new to target young adults with special budget-oriented offers with generous data allowances, plains aimed at young children have not typically included roaming data usable in 55 countries.

We can perhaps assume that Danish children are particularly well-traveled; in any case, the fact that the children’s tier of this plan suite includes roaming data as well as generous voice and ordinary data services—without any mention of special parental controls—shows that children under the age of 13 are not only digital natives but are already developing mobile usage habits that are in line with those of their elders, albeit on a smaller scale in terms of data consumption and expenditure.

The three new subscription plans place children on a continuum with youths up to 24, making it clear that the operator conceives of these age demographics as generally congruent. The differences between the plans are based on the amount of voice and data consumption, graded in a sensible way with 5, 20, or 50 GB and unlimited data at the top. The voice offerings are the same for all except the children’s plan, which included unlimited voice only for on-net calls. The security service is provided for all, in keeping with Telenor’s policy of safeguarding the privacy of all its subscribers. One difference is that the adult plans are 5G-ready while the children’s is not. On the whole, though, what is most striking here are the similarities rather than the differences between the three offerings.