Jitterbug fills the void for geriatric MVNO

by Paul Miller, posted Apr 7th 2006 at 3:37PM

With all those MVNOs cropping up for the youthful crowd, it's about time the seniors got one of their own. The new Jitterbug MVNO will feature a special Jitterbug phone from Samsung with oversized keys, a large display text, and loud audio. There will be a second version that sounds similar to the firefly offerings for children, featuring only three main buttons: one to a Jitterbug operator to help make a call, one for 911, and one to call a dedicated number like that of a relative or perhaps the Home Shopping Network. The new MVNO is powered by Sprint, but sounds to be one of the last for a while since the carrier claims it's not going to be adding many more new MVNOs, and is currently taking a break to get their current MVNOs figured and see how well they do. We'll be sad to see these heady days go of four new MVNOs a minute, but perhaps it's for the best.

Read: Jitterbug MVNO
Read: Sprint holds off on new MVNOs

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, MVNOs

Tags: jitterbug, mvno, mvnos, phone, samsung, sprint, sprint-nextel

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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strider_mt2k @ Apr 7th 2006 9:29PM

Look, as someone who works for Radio Shack and has to sell/explain cell phones to the many older and/or infirm folks from our area, I think this is AWESOME idea!

Older folks ONLY want the simplest phone with an extremely simple plan. I see this everyday.

Generally pre-paids go over quite well for this reason, but the phones are either too gimicky, or simple enough but with tiny buttons and/or confusing menus.

The smart ones are gonna jump on this. It's a huge market and growing with the boomers.

Neutral

DJ @ Apr 7th 2006 10:46PM

When the FireFly came out, my firat thought was why can't they "age" it for seniors. Now I have my answer and I agree with the previous post, this will be a winner. I expect to see the Big Four begin offering something similar very, very soon.

Neutral

daniel @ Apr 8th 2006 4:31PM

hasnt this been done before the vodafone simply/sagem vs1 is based on a similar idea and its been out for quite a while

Neutral

a greiner @ Apr 10th 2006 6:45PM

I a not even a senior..just in my mid forties..and I need a phone with bigger letters..not just bigger buttons!!

i would love to see one of these someday soon!!

Neutral

marta akashe @ Jun 12th 2006 8:00AM

i'm forever looking for ways to simplify my life - i recently bought the simplest corded phone that, by the way, has the clearest sound..i absolutely hate everything with a ton of features..so far i did away with 4 cell phones, because the stress they caused in my life..i was considering a firefly, but now i'm overjoyed at the prospect to get a phone that might be just used as a phone..i don't want to play ping-pong with my stupid cell phone..not everybody is a gadget lover..thank you god..marta

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