There are two different things people mean by a 'subsidised mobile plan for seniors' in Singapore, and they cost very different amounts. The real subsidy is the IMDA Mobile Access for Seniors scheme: a 2-year mobile plan at $5 a month and a smartphone from $20, but only for low-income seniors on ComCare or the HDB Public Rental Scheme. Everyone else aged 60 and above gets the commercial 'senior' SIM-only plans, which start around $5 to $6 a month from the telcos but carry no income test. This guide separates the two so a senior, or the adult child paying the bill, can pick the cheapest plan they actually qualify for.
Two schemes get lumped together. The first is a genuine government subsidy with an income test. The second is a marketing label telcos put on cheap SIM-only plans for anyone who can prove they are 60 or older.
The government subsidy is Mobile Access for Seniors (MAS), run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) under the wider Seniors Go Digital programme. It exists for lower-income seniors who want to get online but cannot afford a phone and plan. The plan costs $5.00 a month for two years and the smartphone starts at $20 as a one-time cost, both inclusive of GST.
The commercial 'senior plans' from Singtel, StarHub, M1, SIMBA, Eight and Circles.Life are a separate thing. They are normal no-contract SIM-only plans priced low and badged for seniors. You only need to show you are 60 or above to sign up. No income check, no ComCare, no application form to a government hub.
The MAS scheme is narrow on purpose. You have to be a low-income senior already receiving a named government assistance scheme, and you have to attend the Seniors Go Digital learning programme first.
All of the following must be true based on IMDA's eligibility criteria.
The subsidised plan runs for 2 years at $5.00 a month, GST included. The smartphone is a separate one-time payment starting from $20, depending on the model. The data, minutes and SMS depend on which participating telco you sign with: Singtel, M1 or SIMBA. None of these plans has excess data charges, so a senior cannot get a bill shock from going over the limit.
Every subsidised plan also comes with free SIM card registration, free caller ID, unlimited incoming local calls, and basic mobile security. These figures are from IMDA's official Mobile Access for Seniors fact sheet.
| Telco | Monthly price | Mobile data | Local minutes | Local SMS | Smartphone (one-time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | $5.00 | 6 GB | 500 mins | 100 SMS | From $20 (e.g. Redmi 9A) |
| Singtel | $5.00 | 5 GB | 350 mins | 50 SMS | From $20 (e.g. Redmi 10A) |
| SIMBA | $5.00 | 20 GB | 300 mins* | 30 SMS* | From $20 (e.g. Energizer U608S) |
SIMBA (formerly TPG) lists 20 GB, the largest data bundle of the three. Per IMDA's fact sheet and SIMBA's Critical Information Summary, calls to all local mobile numbers are unlimited and SMS to SIMBA numbers are free; the 300 minutes are for local fixed-line (landline) calls, and the 30 SMS are texts to other local mobile numbers. SIMBA's plan also bundles 1 GB of roaming data to its Group A destinations, useful if a senior travels to nearby countries. For a senior who mostly messages family on WhatsApp over data, SIMBA's larger bundle is the practical pick.
The $20 entry phone is real, but it is a basic Android. IMDA's fact sheet lists three handsets per telco so a senior can pay a little more for a slightly better screen or camera. The cheapest is always $20; the next two tiers run from the high $30s to under $90, still a one-time cost on top of the $5 monthly plan.
A senior who only calls, texts and uses WhatsApp will be fine on the $20 model. If they want a sharper camera for photos of the grandchildren, the middle tier is the sensible stretch. All prices below are from IMDA's fact sheet and include GST.
The subsidy lasts 24 months. After that the plan is no longer subsidised and reverts to the telco's normal pricing, so it pays to know the exit before signing. Singtel's terms, for example, move the line to a standard rate from the 25th month, and the free 24-month McAfee mobile security that comes bundled also ends then. On SIMBA, a missed prepaid renewal drops the line to a basic plan with throttled data and no outgoing calls until it is topped up.
Two things to do before month 24 arrives. First, set a reminder to review the price, since the same line on a commercial senior plan may be cheaper than the post-subsidy rate. Second, if the senior is still on ComCare or in a rental flat, ask the Digital Ambassador whether they can re-qualify. Either way, the phone is theirs to keep, so only the plan needs rethinking.
There is no online sign-up for MAS. The senior has to attend the Seniors Go Digital learning programme in person and acquire one basic digital skill first. After that, a Digital Ambassador at an SG Digital Community Hub, located at selected Community Clubs and public libraries, helps process the application and the choice of telco and phone.
If you are the adult child helping a parent, the steps are straightforward.
Most seniors will not meet the ComCare or Public Rental Scheme test, and that is fine. The commercial senior SIM-only plans are cheap and need no government paperwork. You just prove you are 60 or above. These are no-contract plans, so the price can change month to month, which is why it is worth a review once a year. Figures below are the 2026 advertised rates and round to whole dollars; confirm the current price on each telco's page before signing.
Two of these need a small extra step. StarHub's lowest senior rate, $6 a month, requires a PAssion Silver Concession Card, which any Singapore Citizen aged 60 and above can get; it is mainly an age-verification card. M1's senior pricing comes through its Silver Benefits, which take 25% off a qualifying plan. Note that Singtel's $6 Seniors SIM Only plan needs no card, only proof of age, so a senior wanting a sub-$10 line without the card hassle can sign up directly with Singtel or with the SIMBA, Circles.Life or Eight $5 plans.
| Telco / plan | Monthly price | Data | Talktime | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circles.Life Senior | ~$5 | 500 GB | Unlimited | No contract, 60+ |
| SIMBA Senior | ~$5 | 400 GB | Unlimited local | No contract, 60+ |
| Eight Senior | ~$5 | 388 GB | 388 mins | Runs on StarHub network, 60+ |
| StarHub 5G Senior | $12 ($6 with PAssion Silver) | 150 GB | 500 mins | PAssion Silver = 50% off; ScamSafe scam protection |
| Singtel Seniors SIM Only ($6) | ~$6 | 340 GB | Unlimited (fair-use cap) | No card needed, 60+ |
| Singtel Seniors Plan ($12) | $12 | Unlimited 5G+ | Unlimited | No contract, 60+ |
| M1 Silver | 25% off the base plan | Varies by plan | Varies | Silver Benefits discount for 60+ |
Headline data sizes like 400 GB or 500 GB are mostly marketing. A typical senior who watches some video on Wi-Fi at home rarely uses more than 5 to 10 GB a month on mobile data. The features that matter more are unlimited incoming calls, free caller ID, scam-call filtering, and a price that does not jump after a promo period. If a parent struggles with scam calls, StarHub's built-in ScamSafe filtering or a similar feature is worth paying a couple of dollars more for.
Scam-call filtering is not a gimmick for this age group. StarHub cites more than 37,000 scam cases in Singapore in 2025 with total losses near $913 million, and victims aged 65 and above losing an average of over $37,000 each. A plan that screens spam calls and shows the caller's number before a senior picks up is a real safety feature, not an upsell. If the senior's plan has no built-in filter, the free ScamShield app from the authorities does a similar job on any phone.
For a senior, a dropped call to a doctor or a child matters more than whether the plan says 150 GB or 500 GB. The four networks that carry these plans are not identical. IMDA publishes mobile network performance data, and the three big networks, Singtel, StarHub and M1, generally hold the strongest nationwide coverage, including indoors and on the MRT. SIMBA, which runs the cheapest commercial and subsidised plans, has improved a lot but can be patchier in some indoor and lift spots.
The MVNO and budget brands, Circles.Life, Eight and GOMO among them, ride on one of the three big networks rather than their own, so their coverage matches whichever host network they use. Eight runs on StarHub's network, for instance. Before locking a senior into the cheapest plan, the simple test is whether it works where they actually are: at home, at the wet market, at the polyclinic. A no-contract plan makes that easy to fix, since switching costs nothing but a SIM swap.
If you want the side-by-side numbers on the general budget plans these compete with, our guide to the best SIM-only plans in Singapore breaks down price against data for each network.
Most seniors do not want a new number; they have given it to the bank, the clinic and every relative for years. Singapore's number portability lets a senior keep the same number when moving telco, at no charge, so there is rarely a reason to stay on an overpriced plan out of habit.
The move itself is short. The new telco handles the port-in when the senior signs up, and the number usually transfers within one to two working days, with little or no downtime. The adult child can do almost all of it.
One caution: do not cancel the old plan before the port completes, or the number can be lost. Let the new telco pull the number across, then the old line closes on its own.
On the commercial side, a senior plan at $5 to $12 a month is $60 to $144 a year. That is small next to the device. The biggest avoidable cost is overpaying for a phone. A senior who only calls, texts, uses WhatsApp and reads the news does not need a $1,500 flagship; a sub-$300 Android does everything they will touch.
For households on a tight budget, the MAS subsidy is the single biggest saving available: a $20 smartphone plus $5 a month for two years, against a commercial path of a $300 phone plus, say, $12 a month, is a difference of roughly $440 over the two years. If a parent is on ComCare or in a rental flat, it is worth the trip to the Community Club to claim it.
Two government cash schemes also stretch the budget further. CDC Vouchers can be spent at participating heartland shops, and the GST Voucher scheme pays cash and U-Save to lower-income and elderly Singaporeans, which frees up the household budget for a phone bill. Neither pays the telco directly, but both ease the squeeze. See our CDC Vouchers guide and GST Voucher guide for the current amounts.
If you are mapping out a parent's monthly outflow, a personal budget calculator makes it obvious how small a $5 to $12 phone line is against rent, food and utilities. For adult children covering the bill, fold it into your own monthly budget rather than treating it as a one-off.
Not always. Senior plans compete with ordinary budget SIM-only plans that anyone can buy. SIM-only plans from MVNOs often sell 10 to 50 GB for around $8 to $15 with no age requirement, and they sometimes undercut a badged senior plan once a promo ends. The senior label matters when it unlocks a real discount, like StarHub's 50% PAssion Silver rate or M1's 25% Silver Benefits, or when it bundles scam protection a senior actually needs.
The honest answer: compare the senior plan against the cheapest general SIM-only plan side by side for the data a senior really uses, which is usually 5 to 10 GB. Pick whichever is cheaper at that usage level, age label or not. For low-usage seniors, the deciding factors are unlimited incoming calls and caller ID, both of which most plans now include for free.
$5.00 a month for two years, with GST included, plus a smartphone from $20 as a one-time cost. The data and minutes depend on the telco: M1 gives 6 GB and 500 minutes, Singtel gives 5 GB and 350 minutes, and SIMBA gives 20 GB. These figures are from IMDA's official Mobile Access for Seniors fact sheet.
Singapore Citizens aged 60 and above who are current beneficiaries of MSF's ComCare Long-Term or Short-to-Medium-Term Assistance, or HDB's Public Rental Scheme. They must also attend the Seniors Go Digital learning programme in person and learn at least one basic digital skill.
Yes, just not the IMDA subsidy. The commercial senior SIM-only plans from Circles.Life, SIMBA, Eight, StarHub, Singtel and M1 only need proof of age. They run roughly $5 to $12 a month with no income test and no contract.
There is no online form. The senior attends a Seniors Go Digital session at a Community Club or public library, completes one basic digital skill in person, then a Digital Ambassador on site processes the application. Find the nearest hub at imda.gov.sg/how-we-can-help/mobile-access-for-seniors or call IMDA at 6377 3800.
It is a concession card for Singapore Citizens aged 60 and above, used mainly to verify age for senior privileges. You need it to get StarHub's 5G Senior Plan at $6 a month instead of $12. It is not required for the IMDA subsidy.
Most seniors use 5 to 10 GB of mobile data a month if they watch video at home on Wi-Fi. The 400 GB and 500 GB headline figures on senior plans are marketing; the more useful features are unlimited incoming calls, free caller ID and scam-call filtering.
For eligible low-income seniors, yes. The $20 smartphone plus $5 a month for two years saves several hundred dollars over buying a phone and a commercial plan. If you don't qualify, a commercial senior or general SIM-only plan is the way to go.
The subsidy lasts 24 months, then the line reverts to the telco's normal pricing from the 25th month. On Singtel, the bundled free McAfee mobile security also ends at that point. The phone is yours to keep. Review the price near month 24, because a commercial senior plan may be cheaper than the post-subsidy rate, and ask the Digital Ambassador whether the senior can re-qualify if still on ComCare or in a rental flat.
Yes. Singapore's number portability lets a senior keep the same number when moving telco, at no charge. The new telco handles the port-in during sign-up and it usually completes in one to two working days. Do not cancel the old plan first, or the number can be lost; let the new telco pull it across and the old line closes on its own.
It is a basic Android, fine for calls, texts, WhatsApp and banking apps, which is all most seniors use. IMDA's fact sheet also lists two pricier tiers per telco, from the high $30s to under $90 one-time, for a slightly better screen or camera. The $20 model handles the essentials; the middle tier is a sensible stretch only if the senior wants a better camera.
Some do. SIMBA's subsidised Mobile Access for Seniors plan bundles 1 GB of roaming data to its Group A destinations, and StarHub's commercial 5G Senior Plan includes roaming across many destinations. Most other low-cost senior plans are local-only, so check the plan's roaming terms before a senior travels, or add a short-term roaming pass for the trip.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.