Today, Internet and the most advanced technology are a constant element of almost every elementary school pupil’s life. The results of the EU Kids Onlinesurvey showed that just over 74% of Slovenian children use Internet every day or almost every day.
Quick access to a variety of information, entertainment and communication enables children and the young to get up-to-date with the latest trends in all fields, but are also more exposed to the negative sides of the World Wide Web. The results of the survey mentioned above are of concern, revealing that more than 60% of the surveyed children under the age of 14 have never received advice from a competent adult about the safe Internet use. This is despite the fact that as many as 63% already have a mobile phone with Internet access enabled. While parents are aware of these issues, they are also concerned about the costs that can lead to dizzying amounts when Internet is used frequently on the mobile device.
What do mobile operators say?
Mobile operators understandably push for the purchase of new mobile devices and contracting, so they are partly responsible for the cyber security risk of mobile users. Telemach is particularly well aware of it, educating elementary school pupils on the safe Internet use through its socially responsible project under the slogan “Safe on Internet, safe in the world”. In the previous academic year, Telemach was visiting elementary schools and reached more than 300 children with the key message, preparing interactive workshops and educating the pupils about the various approaches of online fraudsters, ways of solving problems, using appropriate passwords, preventing access to personal data, protecting privacy in social networks, and teach them about the benefits and dangers of using the World Wide Web.
In doing so, the fastest growing mobile operator in Slovenia began eradicating the careless use of the World Wide Web, with the “I HAVE MORE” (“VEČ IMAM”) mobile offer minimizing the cost of using mobile services by children. The offer, aimed at children between 6 and 15 years of age, was designed with elementary school students in mind who especially like to train the safe Internet use on their mobile phones, and also with their parents in mind, who are offered fixed costs.
What does the offer bring to the children?
For 10 EUR a month, children can enjoy the “I HAVE MORE” (“VEČ IMAM”) mobile offer, which allows them unlimited calls and messaging within the Telemach network and 120 minutes to other Slovenian networks, plus up to 15GB of data transmission in the domestic network and 4.3GB in EU countries. The “I HAVE MORE” (“VEČ IMAM”) mobile offer, therefore, allows children to use technology and connect with their parents and peers, without the risk of additional costs.
What do parents gain with the offer?
No concerns about higher costs and the transparency in the content that their child manage. The biggest advantage of the “I HAVE MORE” (“VEČ IMAM”) offer for parents is that when data transfer is exceeded, there are no additional costs, but only a slowdown in data transfer. On the My Telemach portal, parents can completely block calls to the chargeable numbers, thereby increasing the safety of their children using mobile phones.