VENDORS TRY TO CAPTURE KIDS WITH WIRESS SERVICE, HANDSETS

Handset manufacturer Enfora recently announced that Amerilink Wireless Communications, a central Texas wireless provider, has selected Enfora's TicTalk phone for its Kid Link wireless service. The deal, along with Cingular's offering of the similar FireFly handset this month, shows progress is continuing among carriers aiming to put wireless phones in the hands of the playground crowd, school-aged children, 6 to 12 years old.

The TicTalk phone operates on a GSM/GPRS network and is loaded with features that let parents have the upper hand in how and where the phone is used. Parents can control incoming and outgoing phone calls, designating numbers that may be called anytime (parents or emergency numbers) and reward numbers, including calls from pre-approved friends' numbers.

The hours of the day during which the phone may be used can be controlled, limiting distractions during the school day and other inappropriate times. Parents also can set a predetermined number of minutes to be used.

For kids, the phone features several educational games from high-tech game provider LeapFrog. Games cover math, spelling, science and social studies, and the young users in an Amerilink-sponsored focus group seemed to enjoy them, according to Lucas Caruso, vice president of corporate operations for Amerilink.

The TicTalk handset itself resembles a stopwatch or a child-friendly walkie-talkie. The unit features a hands-free speakerphone, helping to eliminating any radio frequency exposure concerns parents may have. Amerilink is offering the unit for $39.95 as an introductory promotion, with bundled rate plans or as a stand-alone pre- or post-paid service.

Caruso said bundling is a big part of Amerilink's strategy, and this is just a way to offer more to customers through their bundles.

“We saw it as a great way complement our bundled services because it does do a lot of interfacing with Internet and content to the end user on the device,” he said. “That whole bundling of our services is part of our unique approach in the rural markets. I think if you would poll across the United States, a lot of the folks are trying to bundle content along with wireless voice, and we've been able to do that.”

In addition to the Kid Link service, Amerilink is rolling out wireless broadband Internet access to residences and GSM voice all in one package.

Wireless analyst Iain Gillott, principal of iGillott Research, and a father of children under 10, said that situations do occur frequently in which children armed with their own cell phones would be at an advantage. These situations include parents running late, after-school activities and overnight sleepovers, but security is top of mind for every parent, he said.

“The nice thing with things like TicTalk, is that I control who can call my daughter and who she can call and what time of day,” he said. “I do not believe you can sell a phone to this age group without parental controls.”

Mark Weinzierl, Enfora's president and CEO, said that although Amerilink is the first carrier partner, other carriers are testing the product as well.

“[TicTalk] has obviously piqued a lot of carriers' attention, not only for the ability to bring in a completely new market segment that they don't normally have as their subscriber base, but also the ability to bring along with them the parents and additional revenue down the road through content,” Weinzierl said.

Gillott said most of the major carriers have strategies to address this growing market.

“When everybody in the U.S. or North America over the age of 5 who is not in jail has a phone, that is when the market is penetrated,” he said. “In a few years time, it's going to seem completely normal to go get a family rate plan with a few phones for a kindergartener as it is to get a lunch box and a backpack. It may take five to 10 years to get there, but it will get to that point.”