Young people are voracious mobile phone users...

… and are engaging with phone-paid services in growing numbers.

Research from PhonepayPlus, the UK phone-paid services regulator, shows that 37% of 11-17 year olds have bought music or video content for their mobiles. However, only one third (of 11-17 year olds who have used a phone-paid service in the past six months) felt they knew in advance how much they would be charged to download a ringtone, game or other phone-paid service. This potentially leads to young people paying more than they expected, or entering subscription services when they think they are making one-off payments.

Voting on reality TV shows, using a directory enquiry service, entering a competition or downloading a mobile game/ringtone are all products accessed via premium rate numbers, and are therefore considered phone-paid services.

So it's important that young people understand the potential pitfalls and opportunities that come with using premium rate numbers, and that they know where to turn if they have questions or encounter problems.

Find out about PhonepayPlus

Find out about phone-paid services

What's it all about?

PhoneBrain was created by PhonepayPlus, the UK regulator for phone-paid services, and was set up to help young people get to grips with these services – including understanding the costs involved and how to make use of services without getting charged more than expected.

PhoneBrain has been updated and refreshed for the 2010/2011 and 2011/12 school years with:

• Updated content and teaching resources
• New competitions (for both the ICT & Enterprise subject areas) with great prizes
• And new partners - Live UnLtd, the social enterprise charity, independent music label, Moshi Moshi Records, and television's THE X FACTOR

PhoneBrain is also supported by Habbo, the virtual world and social networking site for teens, and Adobe, the industry-standard software provider.

Follow this link to find out more about PhoneBrain and PhonepayPlus.

• Enterprise Teaching Resources - Challenging students to come up with their own ideas for new phone-paid services that have community or social benefits - and to enter them into the PhoneBrain Enterprise Competition

  Cash awards for winners to help develop their ideas

  

  Challenge your students to come up with totally new, cool ideas for phone-paid services that, in some way, help make the world a better place! Students can enter the Enterprise Competition as individuals or teams (of up to four). Winners will be chosen across three different age groups (11-13, 14-16 and 17-19)of 11-19 and will receive an award of up to £500 per student from Live UnLtd to help develop their ideas and turn them in to reality. And, as well as the cash awards, Live UnLtd will provide ongoing help and support to the winners in other ways.

  Find out more – Follow this link to download the lesson plan and other teaching resources, including the Enterprise Competition brief. Please note: these resources have been updated and refreshed for the 2010/2011 and 2011/12 school years.

• ICT Teaching Resources – Challenging students to create their own mobile ringtones and enter the PhoneBrain Ringtone Competition

  Be in with a chance to win tickets to watch the X Factor live

  

  Help your students to learn and use new ICT skills by creating personalised ringtones for their mobile phones, using music provided by Moshi Moshi Records and artwork provided by Habbo. Students can ultimately upload and share their ringtones on the PhoneBrain 'teens' website, and also enter the Ringtone Competition, with tickets to watch THE X FACTOR live up for grabs.

  Find out more – Follow this link to download the lesson plan and other teaching resources, including the 'how to' ICT tutorials and the competition brief. Please note: these resources have been updated and refreshed for the 2010/2011 and 2011/12 school years.