In a bid to encourage elderly mobile users to get on the Internet bandwagon and make communication easier for them, Norwegian telecom major Telenor India has launched the Sashakt Project in Ahmedabad and Anand districts of the state.
The telecom player has started conducting workshops to spread awareness about the use of Internet through mobile phones, and also provide them livelihood options by enrolling them as Points of Sales (POS) for the company's tele-services.
"Our interaction brought out that access to smartphones or the Internet was not as much of a limitation as was the lack of knowledge and education, that discouraged the elderly from using Internet on their mobile phones," Rituraj Kalita, the Circle Business Head of Telenor Gujarat, told BusinessLine.
A Telenor Group study — The Unconnected Senior Citizens of Asia — revealed that senior citizens in markets such as India, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Malaysia represented as little as 2 per cent of active mobile users, with still fewer using smartphones.
It was found that there was a widening gap in technology adoption among older people.
About 10 per cent of Telenor India’s subscribers are over 45 years of age, while nationally only 6 percent of all mobile phone users are over 50 years of age. Among them, active mobile data users of 50 years or older, were only 1 per cent.
Generally, non-data users have a lower income profile and higher age than the average mobile user, the company noted.
Under the pilot project, Project Sashakt, Telenor covered over 250 elderly through workshops at Anand district and Ahmedabad, with about 40 individuals enrolling for Points of Sale (POS).
"Internet can help us learn new techniques and ways of improving our life from what we have been doing for so many years. I have heard of Google and Whatsapp from my children but never really used it. It seems Internet has more exciting things to show," said Ramesh Bhai, a tomato farmer from Naar village in Anand district.
The Telenor instructors covered areas such as Know Your Mobile, Use of Internet on Mobile, Apps to Use, Apt Data Packs, and Introduction to Social Networking through Whatsapp, Facebook, and Earn with Telenor.
The team helped the elderly choose the correct settings on their mobile phones, download relevant apps, and use services such as Google Search, sharing messages and images on Whatsapp.