Broadband ISP TalkTalk See Rising Internet Use Among Pensioners
Internet provider TalkTalk has today published the latest volume (4) of their UK “Internet Insights” report, which this time around focuses upon the impact of “silver surfers” and reveals that broadband usage among pensioners has grown by 69% from pre-pandemic levels (driven by increased streaming and online gaming).
The data shows that internet usage among over 65s from July to November this year is up by 69% compared to the same period in 2019, which does appear to suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may have significantly changed the way older generations now use the internet in their day-to-day lives (e.g. communicating via video calls will have become much more common).
For example, the use of online streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon (Prime Video), among over 65s has jumped, with 41% of that group saying they now stream more content than they did before the pandemic, while more than half (54%) said streaming is now one of their favourite hobbies.
Perhaps of greater surprise is the fact that online video gaming is also growing in popularity among pensioners, with 12% taking it up during the pandemic. As for what such users are streaming and playing..
Top 10 most streamed TV programmes by over 65s
Line of Duty (54%)
The Crown (47%)
Peaky Blinders (41%)
Bridgerton (40%)
Squid Game (33%)
The Queen’s Gambit (21%)
Handmaid’s Tale (20%)
Tiger King (9%)
Below Deck (7%)
Normal People (7%)
Top 5 most played online video games by over 65s:
Minecraft (82%)
Fortnite (78%)
FIFA (76%)
Player Unknown’s Battle Ground (67%)
Call of Duty (64%)
Finally, 32% of silver surfers are now using online services for personal admin, such as banking and utilities, while 61% are shopping online and 37% say they now lead a more “digitally savvy lifestyle” than they did pre-pandemic. Naturally, 67% say that fast, reliable and affordable broadband is now crucial to their day-to-day lives and 20% plan to upgrade to a faster broadband package in 2022 (in reality, far fewer end up actually doing this).
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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Not much choice when the banks close all the local branches than to go online. I do find the gaming a head scratcher.
I’m left wondering how much of the rise is due to new take-up vs existing users getting older and moving up an age band.
No wonder it’s TalkTalk; as I recall, they have some of the cheapest offers. Unfortunately they also had some pretty bad service rankings:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48103617
and that whole data breach thing… https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48351900
Let’s hope things have been improved, and the silver surfers have a safe transition to the New Fibre Era once it becomes mandatory.
My 84 year old mother is struggling with the “free” broadband provided by her BT phone provider. It operates (intermittently) at around 1-2mbps which just about manages emails but not much else. But, for her, justifying £20+ a month for anything better is difficult and would make a big dent in her pension. There is a huge market for a moderate broadband service (say 5-10mbps) at £10 a month or less that would satisfy many low users.
ISP’s would make a loss if they only charged £10 a month. The cost of the access service (FTTC/FTTP) is the same regardless of what speed they limit it to
Where do TT get their age info from?