Consumer Cellular targets the mobile mature

The Millennial Generation may get all the attention, but there's a substantial U.S. market of more “mature” wireless users that warrants attention as well. National mobile virtual network operator Consumer Cellular is rapidly approaching the 500,000 customer mark, said CEO John Marick, with the majority of its user base coming from the American Association of Retired Persons.

The MVNO resells AT&T's wireless minutes, as well as mobile content from ClearSky and direct-dial international long-distance calling from MobileSphere. The postpaid service has no contracts and offers only the most basic phones and plans. In the past five years, the company has grown 500% without offering a single smartphone or data service plan.

Marick co-founded the company in 1995 with an emphasis on the northeast Oregon market, but when AT&T and Cingular merged in 2005, he renegotiated its contract to obtain a national footprint and forged a relationship with the AARP. Now, more than 85% of Consumer Cellular's customers are older than 50. Other MVNOs such as Jitterbug also go after this mature market, but Consumer Cellular faces the most competition from Tier 1 carriers, which can offer family plans and compete on sheer size — but often overwhelm older users, Marick said.

The service also has proved popular with frequent travelers through its marketing relationships with AAA and Good Sam Motor Home Club. Most users aren't landline cutters, but they still want a cell phone for safety and convenience.

“Through those relationships, we can get people to slow down enough to look at our ads, give us a call and tell them about our benefits,” Marick said. “If they do that, we have a high success rate with getting people to adopt our service. We cut through the clutter.”