As part of a broader partnership BT and the BBC have announced plans to zero rate the hugely popular and award-winning BBC Bitesize for all EE, BT Mobile, and Plusnet Mobile customers while schools remain closed during the latest UK lockdown.
BBC Bitesize was first launched in April 2020 in response to the first UK Covid lockdown offering programming designed to ensure that every child in the UK had the opportunity to continue to follow the appropriate core parts of their school curriculum. The programme acted as a standalone resource or complementing what schools are providing remotely, aimed at minimising disruption to children’s education and providing rhythm and routines.
To respond to the latest crisis, the BBC is bringing together BBC Two, CBBC, BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and online to deliver a new education offer to children, teachers and parents. Most importantly, the new offer is designed to ensure all children can access curriculum-based learning even if they don’t have access to the internet, a key issue in the UK where high speed broadband availability and high quality mobile coverage are nowhere near guaranteed across the country.
And in a first of its kind agreement to support such accessibility, from the end of the month customers of EE, BT Mobile and Plusnet Mobile accessing BBC Bitesize for kids’ educational purposes, can watch, read and interact with as much immersive content as they need, even if they have run out of data.
To make the process as easy as possible for families, no registration will be required with zero rated access to educational Bitesize content through the BBC website and Bitesize app made automatically.
The zero rating of popular educational websites forms part of BT’s Lockdown Learning support scheme. Run as part of BT’s partnership with the UK’s Department for Education (DfE), the scheme will see unlimited mobile data for EE and BT Mobile customers without a fixed connection in partnership with DfE and free Wi-Fi vouchers for schools and charities to distribute to those who need it most, so that disadvantaged kids and those without a network connection can access home learning resources. The offer will run for the rest of the academic year July 2021.
Commenting on the BBC Bitesize offer, Marc Allera, CEO BT Group’s consumer division, said: “We want to ensure that no child is left behind in their education as a result of this pandemic, and recognise that we all have a role we can play to help families and carers continue their children’s education while schools are closed.
That’s why…we’re proud to partner with the BBC and be the first network to zero rate BBC Bitesize and allow all of our mobile customers to access its incredible content without using up any data.”
Tim Davie, BBC Director General, added: “With the pandemic forcing schools to close again we should not allow a lack of digital access to further impact children’s education. This is why I’m delighted we have agreed this partnership with BT to remove data charges when accessing the BBC’s brilliant Bitesize content. The BBC will continue to do all we can to ensure every child, whatever their circumstances, can continue to access vital educational materials during this time.”
To respond to the latest crisis, the BBC is bringing together BBC Two, CBBC, BBC Red Button, BBC iPlayer and online to deliver a new education offer to children, teachers and parents. Most importantly, the new offer is designed to ensure all children can access curriculum-based learning even if they don’t have access to the internet, a key issue in the UK where high speed broadband availability and high quality mobile coverage are nowhere near guaranteed across the country.
And in a first of its kind agreement to support such accessibility, from the end of the month customers of EE, BT Mobile and Plusnet Mobile accessing BBC Bitesize for kids’ educational purposes, can watch, read and interact with as much immersive content as they need, even if they have run out of data.
To make the process as easy as possible for families, no registration will be required with zero rated access to educational Bitesize content through the BBC website and Bitesize app made automatically.
The zero rating of popular educational websites forms part of BT’s Lockdown Learning support scheme. Run as part of BT’s partnership with the UK’s Department for Education (DfE), the scheme will see unlimited mobile data for EE and BT Mobile customers without a fixed connection in partnership with DfE and free Wi-Fi vouchers for schools and charities to distribute to those who need it most, so that disadvantaged kids and those without a network connection can access home learning resources. The offer will run for the rest of the academic year July 2021.
Commenting on the BBC Bitesize offer, Marc Allera, CEO BT Group’s consumer division, said: “We want to ensure that no child is left behind in their education as a result of this pandemic, and recognise that we all have a role we can play to help families and carers continue their children’s education while schools are closed.
That’s why…we’re proud to partner with the BBC and be the first network to zero rate BBC Bitesize and allow all of our mobile customers to access its incredible content without using up any data.”
Tim Davie, BBC Director General, added: “With the pandemic forcing schools to close again we should not allow a lack of digital access to further impact children’s education. This is why I’m delighted we have agreed this partnership with BT to remove data charges when accessing the BBC’s brilliant Bitesize content. The BBC will continue to do all we can to ensure every child, whatever their circumstances, can continue to access vital educational materials during this time.”
