BT and EE Gift 20GB Free Mobile Data to Disadvantaged Families

BT (EE) has confirmed that, in response to calls for UK mobile broadband operators to help support children’s education during the new COVID-19 lockdown, they too will be joining other operators (here) and the Department of Education by supplying 20GB of free extra mobile data per month to “disadvantaged families.”

Available until the end of this academic year (July 2021), the free extra mobile data on EE is accessed through children’s schools, and allows eligible families to access whichever educational resources are needed whilst face to face teaching is paused. The move is similar to Vodafone’s offer of 30GB data SIMs for 90 days, albeit not as strong as Three UK’s decision yesterday to upgrade similar customers to “unlimited data“.

According this page on the Government’s website, Smarty, Virgin Mobile, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile are also offering temporary increases in mobile data allowances to support disadvantaged children, although we don’t yet have the details for what each will be offering beyond those mentioned directly above.

Obviously, such children will still need to be able to receive a good mobile broadband (4G etc.) signal at home in order for this to be effective, which will vary from place to place.

Other ways in which BT is helping its customers:

— BT was the first telecoms operator to have an offer for families who needed help with home learning, offering BT WiFi vouchers for free access available since June. Previously distributed through the Department of Education, BT will be offering these directly to families shortly.

— BT removed caps on all its broadband packages so every customer has unlimited data. This was applied from February 2020 to help customers working, learning or self-isolating at home.

— These families are also eligible for BT Basic, a £10 per month fixed broadband service.