AT&T suspends parental controls

The same day that we ran an article on kajeet, in which we found out that AT&T representatives didn’t know about their parental controls program, the company announced that they have suspended the service. Yes, it’s a complete coincidence. However, it is noteworthy that AT&T, a huge telecommunications conglomerate, couldn’t get this right, while kajeet, a small MVNO that has only been in existence for four years, has seemingly nailed it. So why did AT&T fail with its first go-round?

According to AT&T, it’s 911 calls. No matter what restrictions are placed on the phone by a parent, the phone can always make 911 calls. However, should a 911 call disconnect, operators “may have difficulty calling back.”

This seems to us like a simple problem that would require a simple fix. It appears that it’s not so easy, though. Then again, we have to remember that AT&T is out to protect its own interests, and has no qualm with telling a white lie to cover their own butts.

Remember, calls to AT&T customer service revealed that some representatives hadn’t even heard of Smart Limits, the parental controls program. Could it be that AT&T has realized that they need to inform their customer service staff of this program and its functions? We think so. How embarrassing is it to launch this touted service, yet have your representatives know nothing about it?

We’ll let you know when the features reemerges. And then we’ll call customer service and see if they know anything about it.

[CNN Money]

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