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Summary
- BT Group and EE Limited have decided to support disadvantaged families and their children by offering 20 GB of extra data every month.
- Vodafone has launched a new scheme under which it is offering free SIMs packed with a validity of 90 days and 30 GB of data.
- Three UK has partnered with DfE to provide unlimited data upgrades for the underprivileged children in England until July 2021.
In the wake of the third lockdown induced by the new strain of Covid-19, UK telecom companies BT Group and EE Limited have decided to support disadvantaged families and their children by offering 20 GB of extra data every month until the end of current academic year, i.e. July 2021.
Notably, BT Group and EE have forged alliances with Ericsson to boost their 5G network infrastructure across major UK cities. BT Group even slashed its dividend payments to finance fibre rollout to UK’s rural households. Additionally, UK’s leading telecom player Vodafone Plc (LON: VOD) has launched a new scheme under which it is offering free SIM cards packed with a validity of 90 days and 30 GB of data.
Another popular mobile operator Three UK has partnered with DfE to provide unlimited data upgrades for the underprivileged children in England. Under the partnership, a disadvantaged student can request additional data free of charge under the Get Help with Technology programme until July. These schemes are designed to help more than 350,000 primary and secondary school children in their education amid the latest Covid-19 lockdown.
Also read: How One Should Be Looking at Telecom Shares as Vodafone Keeps Paying Out Dividend?
In June 2020, during the peak of the unprecedented crisis, UK’s leading communications and broadband services company BT Group Plc (LON: BT.A) had joined hands with the Department for Education (DfE) to offer support to the underprivileged children.
The pandemic had changed the conventional methods of education. The prolonged lockdown restrictions had pushed the educational institutes to offer online courses for which the internet is a necessity. In the times to come, for some specialised courses it might become a preferred form of seeking education.
Vulnerable families could see their children getting easy access to the internet as the Footsie-listed telecom giant had decided to offer six months of free access to the UK’s largest Wi-fi network, which has around 5.5 million Wi-fi hotspots across the nation. The underprivileged children were able to access the internet on three devices simultaneously for six months through a BT WiFi voucher code system. However, the internet access through the voucher shall be limited to specific content and online learning programmes.
Last year, EE Limited offered unlimited data packs for the National Health Service staff. Due to the ongoing crisis, EE has extended this offer until 31 January.
