LITTLE ROCK, Ark. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. ? While more and more children use wireless phones to communicate with parents and each other, parents are growing concerned regarding the potentially harmful web content available on mobile phones. To assist parents in controlling their child's mobile internet usage, Alltel Wireless, America's largest wireless network, providing coverage across the nation, has teamed with Bytemobile, the global leader in mobile internet solutions for network operators, to announce Alltel Parental Controls, a content filtering application available free of charge beginning in February 2008.
Based on Bytemobile's Unison ACCESS Mobile content filtering solution, Alltel Parental Controls utilizes a comprehensive database of websites that may be inappropriate for children, allowing parents to filter content on their child's phone. Potentially offensive sites that can be filtered through Alltel Parental Controls include those featuring pornography, gambling, weapons and violence. Alltel Parental Controls is available to Alltel customers, both pre- and post-paid, on select phones. Parents can set their filtering preferences from MyAccount on alltel.com or MyPrepaid on alltelu.com
?Through our relationship with Bytemobile, Alltel Wireless strives to provide our customers with the tools required to control what websites are accessible from their mobile device.? said Scott Moody, director of multi-media content for Alltel Wireless. ?With Alltel Parental Controls, parents can block much of the harmful material found on the Internet from ever reaching any phone on their account.?
To provide protection, Alltel Wireless and Bytemobile have teamed with RuleSpace to provide a content filtering database. The service includes a special feature called, ?dynamic rating,? which supplements the database and enables Alltel to remain informed of newly discovered, unrated and mixed-content sites. In addition, the service's real-time capabilities allow for instant site ratings and the ability to selectively block different pieces of content on the same web page.
?Bytemobile understands the importance of this service, and we are working closely with Alltel Wireless to deliver a socially responsible service that will allow parents to feel confident regarding their child's mobile internet usage,? said Marty Smuin, vice president and general manager, Americas, at Bytemobile. ?The service, with its comprehensive database, allows for a high level of content filtering, and we are dedicated to making the user experience as safe and rewarding as possible.?
