The Mobile World Congress is not just about the latest must-have gadgets with built-in MP3 players, web browsers, instant messaging clients, email and gaming capabilities aimed squarely at the youth market. One Austrian firm will use the event to showcase the exact opposite: a phone designed for the older user.

With many developed western nations having ageing populations, Emporia Telecom reckons there will be growing demand for phones that do not confuse the user with menus and sub-menus and fiddly buttons.

Its phones have large buttons, big uncluttered displays and a loudspeaker that works with a hearing aid. It also has a phone with a large red panic button on the back, which can be set to contact up to five emergency numbers.

The company, founded in 1991, has sold its handsets across Europe but has yet to find a UK operator willing to subsidise the cost of the phones - though they can be bought through Help The Aged.

Last year Vodafone dumped its Simply range of basic phones, which were focused on texting and talking, saying demand had been less than expected.