The UK’s major network providers, Vodafone, Three and BT, have released support packages to help families out with data costs if their children are forced to learn from home while schools are shut.
Vodafone has offered 350,000 SIM cards that provide 30GB of data to schools and colleges for disadvantaged students, and it said it would keep working with the government to help.
Mobile network Three UK will provide free unlimited data to disadvantaged children in England after schools shut during lockdown, the latest operator to try to prevent children from falling behind during the pandemic.
The unlimited data could be requested by schools for their pupils and will be applied until the end of the school year in July, chief commercial officer Elaine Carey saying “Three UK wants to support those families that need access to connectivity to support their child’s learning needs during the pandemic.”
BT, have removed data caps and is giving 20GB of free data a month to disadvantaged families confirmed a spokesperson.
“The data is accessed through children’s schools, and will allow pupils to access whichever educational resource that their school subscribes to help make sure no-one is left behind while face-to-face teaching is paused,” a spokesman said. and mobile operators have provided data packages for children in households that lack broadband.
Virgin Media have also launched an affordable service from just £15 per month for anyone currently claiming universal credit.
