Younger Home Broadband Buyers are Less Loyal, Generate Lower ARPU

Sometimes researchers have to do studies that have an expected outcome, even if what the new research does is simply confirm an expected pattern. So it is with consumer home broadband loyalty and average revenue per account.

I don’t think anyone should be at all surprised by the recent findings of a study suggesting younger home broadband buyers spend less and churn more than older customers. In fact, that is the expected pattern for most subscription or repeat-purchase products. 

Age Group	Loyalty (Likelihood to Stay with One Brand/Service)	Average Spend
Gen Z (under ~25)	Low loyalty – experimenters, switch easily for price or novelty	Low spend – budget constraints, high trial behavior
Young Millennials (25–34)	Moderate loyalty – will stay if product aligns with values (sustainability, brand ethos)	Medium spend – starting careers, increasing discretionary income
Older Millennials / Early Gen X (35–49)	Higher loyalty – convenience and habit take hold	Higher spend – peak earning years, subscriptions accumulate
Older Gen X / Boomers (50–64)	High loyalty – less brand switching, seek reliability	High spend – stable income, value convenience and trust
Seniors (65+)	Very high loyalty – tend to stick with familiar brands	Variable spend – can be high (healthcare, legacy services) or constrained (fixed income)

Many studies of consumer home broadband churn behavior show the pattern. 

Study / Source (year)	Geography & sample	Findings – Churn / Switching by Age	Findings – Spend / Price by Age	Notes
Ofcom & Choose.co.uk (2019)	UK, broadband customers	Only 9% switched in last 12 months overall; >50% of customers aged 65+ have never switched (Choose)	Older customers less empowered to negotiate—62% confident to talk to provider, vs 87% under-65s; older more likely to be out of contract and overpay (Choose)	Clear age gap in switching behavior: older customers stick around and pay more.
Broadband.co.uk Switching Study (2025)	UK broadband users 18–24 vs older	Only 29% of 18–24 “like my provider” vs 45% of 65+; 37% of 18–24 had “no particular reason” to not switch vs much lower for older groups (Broadband Genie)	Indicates younger consumers are less satisfied, more inclined to question loyalty. Older show higher contentment.	Suggests younger users are less loyal, older are more settled.
Pew Research (US, 2017)	US adults by age group	Millennials (18–24) more likely to use mobile-only internet; 55% of 18–24 use smartphones only vs 69% of 55–64 prefer broadband (THE Journal)	Younger more mobile-dependent; older more likely to maintain home broadband subscriptions → spends more.	Non-UK data reinforcing that older rely more on broadband.
Reddit – subscription churn analysis	General subscription users (not broadband-specific)	“Customers between **18–24 y/o have the highest churn. Older age correlates to higher tenure.” (Reddit)	Implies older users tend to spend longer (hence likely higher cumulative spend).	While not broadband-specific, supports the general age-churn correlation.