UK Parents Offered Free High-Speed Internet To Help With Homeschooling During Lockdown

James Keith
·2 min read

Image via WikiCommons

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the repeated lockdowns are playing havoc with all our lives to varying degrees, but it's been particularly hard for parents.

As we return once more to lockdown—the harshest iteration yet—not only do parents have to contend with adjusting their own work life, but they now have to make sure their children have everything they need to transform the home into a classroom. It's far from easy, especially when you consider that Telecoms regulator Ofcom estimated that more than 880,000 children live in a household without WiFi, but there is at least one glimmer of hope that could potentially make things a little easier.

Internet provider Hyperoptic announced that 37 local authorities across the UK would be offered the chance to have a high-speed connection installed with no usage charges until the end of the summer term, at which point consumers would be able to cancel without charge.

Crucially, the company have pledged that the offer comes with unlimited data and that users could expect consistent service that wouldn't fluctuate depending on the time of day or the number of connected devices. In the next month alone, they plan to connect at least 2,500 families.

Liam McAvoy, senior director of business development at Hyperoptic, said: "Every child deserves to be able to virtually learn and harness the opportunities that are enabled by connectivity. We hope others in the industry join us in providing free connectivity to families that need most."

On top of that, BT (which also owns EE), Vodafone, Sky, Virgin Media, Sky, O2 and Three have all launched their own initiatives to offer free data and internet packages to help children access online learning resources.

A full list of the supporting local authorities can be found below:

· A2Dominion
· Brent Council
· Catalyst Housing Group
· City of London
· City West
· Clarion Housing Group
· Enfield Council
· Govan Housing Association
· Hammersmith & Fulham Council
· Hyde Group
· Islington Housing Association
· Leeds Council
· London & Quadrant
· Maryhill Housing Association
· Metropolitan Housing
· Milnbank Housing Association
· Network Homes
· New Gorbals Housing Association
· Newcastle Council
· Newlon Housing Trust
· Notting Hill Genesis
· One Housing
· One Manchester Housing
· One Vision Housing
· Optivo Housing
· Peabody
· Poplar HARCA
· Queen’s Cross Housing Association
· Richmond Housing Partnership Limited
· Salix Homes
· Southampton Council
· Southwark Housing
· Swan Housing/Nu Living
· Thurrock Council
· Tower Hamlets Council
· Trafford Housing
· Westminster Council