Mobile Operator VOXI Removes Age Restriction for New Customers UPDATE
Mobile operator VOXI, which is a Vodafone UK sub-brand that was launched in 2017 and initially targeted at people aged 25 and under (e.g. students), has informed ISPreview.co.uk that it will today remove “age-gating” from its platform so that “anyone can purchase a voxi contract.”
Back in 2017 the Head of VOXI, Dan Lambrou, said the operator aimed to sell mobile plans that were specifically tailored for younger users and their social media habits: “Why should young people make do with the same mobile plans as everyone else, when they use their phones differently and often can’t access the best deals?,” said Dan.
The result was an operator that allowed subscribers to cancel at anytime (monthly contracts), supported unlimited usage of social media apps and offered unlimited calls, texts and picture messages with every plan. The catch was that only those people “aged 25 and under” could join (this was later softened to the under 30s).
This morning VOXI’s website continues to say that they’re “tailored to under 30s so you can only join if you’re in this age group. If you’re age 30 or above and looking for SIM only deals, check out Vodafone’s range.” Nevertheless Vodafone has informed us that this “age-gating” restriction is due to be lifted sometime today, although it hasn’t yet explained why.
UPDATE 5th April 2019
A spokesperson for Vodafone told ISPreview.co.uk: “[We’ve] removed the under 30 age restriction for buying plans and phones. With endless data for social media at the centre of its offering and no contract, VOXI is designed to meet the needs of a younger audience who use their mobile mainly for social media and who don’t want to be tied into a contract. As VOXI has become more popular, we’ve seen our offering appeal to a wider audience and therefore we’ve made it easier for anyone who likes our proposition to join us.“
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Suspect they need to try and broaden their appeal. Unscientific sample of colleagues in their “target” age range suggests nobody has heard of voxi!
A lot of people viewed VOXI’s policy as age discrimination and were infuriated by it (me included). Discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated. Glad they have finally bowed to pressure.
“Discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated.”
Personally I think it’s always wise not to deal in absolutes, although I do agree with what you’re saying in this case with VOXI. But generally there must always be exceptions. For example, publicly funded toddler child care for those under the age of 5 should only be available to children and not fully grown adults in the same environment etc.
Likewise movies, night clubs / pubs and so forth can all impose age limits. We wouldn’t say its discrimination not to allow a young child to enter a night club 🙂 .
+1 on the discrimination point. Quite wrong and only reinforces stereotypes. Vodafone’s big company approaches to all its stakeholders seems very off key at the moment. I’m a long long term customer and finally had enough of its lack of care.
A bit of discrimination is no bad thing. Think of all the companies that give a student or senior citizens discounts. I think those are broadly positive.
Not really Joe – I am 53 and a student, I can get discount if I wish to – but my age is never a factor and so it’s not as bad a Voxi – I’ve been saying for ages they were discriminating.
Banks offer Student accounts with specific terms
You can buy Student and Senior Rail cards
Car insurance premiums are based on risk and hence age profiles.
None of these I consider discriminating. They are offering a specific service based on the specific usage of that service.
The issue for Vodafone is whether there is still enough differential to maintain a subsidiary.
“Discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated”
Oh noes, we better give new born babies the right to vote then, rather than making them wait 18 years (16 if you are Scottish).
I actually sat in a hospital once waiting patiently for an x-ray which was a department just down a corridor from A&E. A person in A&E went into Cardiac arrest. Staff swarmed and came running from all directions as you would to save their life. This actually prompted some entitled cretin that had already been in a fight and received a fat lip to stand up in there and shout what about me i have been waiting for 2 hours. They then turned their entitlement upon everyone else waiting and started to scream and shout like a 5 year old child at both staff and patients in that department who had the common bloody sense to tell them to basically shut the F&&K UP as they understood a person that is about to die trumps waiting with a swollen lip.
I feel that the opposite “Entitlement of any kind should not be tolerated.” its ill thought out *cough, splatter* logic needs to stop. Anyone that thinks they should be given anything just because someone else has it, is a halfwit, in my opinion.
Technically we already have daycare for adults with the way unis are going…
LOL The way some ‘adults’ behave its the toddlers that run the day care, not the ‘adult’ staff.
It was a great way to get more young customers onto Vodafone, as we know the Operator itself is high maintenance & with young people using more data it used to be much more costly. I agree that the age limit probably worked, at least for a while. Now more people are aware on the MVNO so it’s a good time for Vodafone to lift the restriction.
Still there as of this post when you go to order you get the under 30 box. They will ask for ID so no point ordering until it’s gone
Id imagine for any type of contract you will require some form of ID, even if that is just the Credit/Debit card details to pay….. Oh noes that makes it discriminatory again as only an adult will be able to have it.
I signed both my children up, no proof of age required.