Italian operator TIM (Telecom Italia) has launched a new prepaid plan for mobile users aged 8 to 30 years of age, according to a report. Called TIM Young Senza Limiti Top Edition, it has been available since on 25 March at a cost of €14.99 (US $16.95) a month plus activation fees of €9.00 (US $10.18) when tied to a current account or €12.00 (US $13.57) with a monthly top-up.
The plan comes with for 30 GB of data and unlimited calls to all mobile and fixed line numbers, plus zero-rated data for most messaging apps, social networks and music streaming platforms. Through 30 September, users will also get free access to 25 million songs, without ads, through the streaming service TimMusic.
Tarifica’s Take
As we have noted quite frequently, apropos of many different kinds of telecom markets, the youth demographic is key and targeting it has lasting value for operators. Under age 30 is an impressionable time in terms of brand loyalty and usage habits; therefore gaining subscribers at that life stage is a reliable way of ensuring that they will stay with the operator long-term.
One feature of youth plans is that they are budget-oriented, which is important given the relative lack of spending power of customers in their teens and 20s. In keeping with the low prices (and frequently prepaid basis), these plans tend to be modest in features. On the other hand, TIM Young Senza Limiti Top Edition appears quite generous, with a large quantum of data, unlimited minutes to all networks and zero-rated data for OTT messaging apps, social media apps and operator-proprietary streaming music. This generosity, coupled with low pricing, may cause the offering to be a “loss leader” for the operator—costly in the short run but beneficial in the long run in terms of customer retention and eventual upselling.
Give that data consumption levels among the youth demographic tend to be high, offers such as this may be the wave of the future when it comes to cultivating this market sector. It is also notable, in this case, that the age range begins at 8 rather than 18; habits of mobile device use are being formed at younger ages than ever before.