Child-Centric Mobile Network MVNO ParentShield has launched its “Safer with a phone” campaign reminding parents that mobile phones can be an essential lifeline and arguing that even a 5 year old shoudl have one.
Should a 5 year old have a mobile phone?
By putting your child’s phone inside a CUG means you can completely restrict communication to trusted individuals only, and no way around the restriction”
Ask for general opinion and many people will say that Five is far too young for a child to get their first mobile phone, but Derby Based Network ParentShield is stressing that, with the right Network and the right controls, mobile phones can be an important life-saving and confidence-boosting tool that parents shouldn’t dismiss lightly.
ParentShield is a special child-only MVNO designed specifically for use by younger or vulnerable phone users. Unlike the mainstream Mobile Networks and their satellite ‘budget’ MVNOs, ParentShield allows its users to enable a fully recorded ‘Closed User Group‘ architecture to provide a mobile phone that can only call, or be called, or text or be texted by pre-defined safe numbers.
A Closed User Group ( or CUG ) is a special type of mobile service that only works between a pre-selected group of subscribers. It means that mobile phones in the group can call and text one another, but those outside the group have no way to route calls or SMS messages into the group.
By putting your child’s phone inside a CUG means you can completely lock communication down to trusted individuals only, and there are no settings to make on the phone itself, and no way around the restriction – because the call route at network level, is unavailable. No matter what the child does, calls to other numbers are simply impossible.
This allows parents to confidently provide a mobile phone to children as young as 4 and 5, knowing that they can only call home, or any other trusted number placed inside the Group. Removing all possibility of communication with untrusted individuals, and recording call and text conversations with trusted, known individuals means the mobile phone is totally safe and can’t be an unwanted distraction.
Not all phones are smartphones!
When people think of mobile phones, they may be thinking of smartphones like the one they use but simple ‘brick phones’ placed in a Closed Group are an ideal introduction to mobile phones, Says the Network, and allows parents to start to teach safe and responsible mobile phone usage at the first opportunity and head off problems at a later age when they’re let loose with a hand-held portable computer.
Providing a simple feature phone means there are no apps to install, and the dangers of the internet ( that would obviously be unsuitable for a young child ) are completely avoided. The network provides a child’s SIM Only service that will work in any unlocked mobile phone.
“There are lots of lessons that children need to learn about mobile phones,” Says Network CEO Graham Tyers, “teaching them at an early age, how to look after a phone, how to charge it, lock it, and look after it and use it responsibly saves parents a huge headache at a later age when phones start getting more capable and more expensive!”
About ParentShield
ParentShield is the UK’s only Mobile Network designed specifically with children in mind, incorporating a wide range of tools – from call recording to keyword alerts – that allow parents to oversee their child’s phone usage without invading their privacy. It can work with any unlocked feature-phone, smartphone or smartwatch and does not require any app or parental controls to be set on the device. Its features are handled remotely, allowing for optimal convenience while kids retain their independence. The SIMs work across the UK and beyond.
ParentShield is seen as one of the UK’s ‘rising-star’ MVNO’s with an offering and speciality that is significantly different from past MVNO start-ups that have struggled to compete on price alone with the discount MVNO operators in the UK.
Being a SIM-based network-side service, parents can provide ANY unlocked phone to their child and give them a totally normal mobile phone experience without the stigma of being a locked “parental control” phone that you wouldn’t want to show your friends in the playground.
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