Under 8s with phones.
CNet is carrying a report suggesting that the average age of a child owning their first phone is expected to drop to five years old. Although some may have phones this young, the average age is currently eight, according analysts Dhaliwalbrown. The Daily Telegraph notes that "parents are so anxious to keep tabs on their offspring that they are sending them to primary school with unsuitable mobile phones designed for adult".
"According to the report's author, Ahmed Siddiqui, more than a million children under the age of 10—or one in three children—have a mobile phone in Britain. By secondary school, around 96 per cent have access to a mobile phone." It's not clear what "access" means in this context.
In related news, The Register reports that Disney has scraped it's UK mobile plans. "Part of Disney's problem is that, in the UK, the brand is more associated with young children; official government advice is that children under 16 should only use a phone for 'essential' calls—although what's essential to a 15-year-old might not resonate with the rest of us." The service has successfully launched in the US, based on the parent controlling spending and tracking children. "Tracking children has proved more contentious in the UK where the Data Protection Act guarantees privacy, even for children. According to OUT-LAW.com, by convention children under 12 have to rely on their legal guardian to give permission, but between 12 and 16 the child must give their permission too, and it seems unlikely that many 15-year-olds would be interested in their parents knowing their location at all times."
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