For telecom companies, more data consumption usually means more revenue. But Virgin Mobile Saudi Arabia is taking a different approach when it comes to children, with a new network-level service designed to restrict access to social media and other online content.
Yaarob Al-Sayegh, CEO of Beyond One Saudi Arabia, the digital services operator behind Virgin Mobile in the Kingdom, discussed the company’s Aman service in an interview with Al Arabiya English’s The Riyal Deal.
The service is positioned as Saudi Arabia’s first network-level parental control offering, designed to give parents a simpler way to provide children with a safer digital environment without requiring apps, additional software or complicated configurations.
And Al-Sayegh acknowledges there is a commercial trade-off.
Choosing safety over consumption
Asked whether restricting social media access means less revenue for the company, Al-Sayegh was direct: “Well, yes, absolutely.”
He said the decision reflects Virgin’s brand values and its willingness to challenge conventional approaches.
Aman uses a network-based system, meaning parents do not need to install or configure additional software. Instead, a SIM connected to the Aman plan can be placed in a child’s tablet or device.
The service blocks major social media platforms and websites considered unsuitable for children. YouTube access is also restricted to a designated safer version rather than the standard platform and its wider content library.
For parents, the appeal is simplicity. Rather than monitoring individual apps or repeatedly adjusting settings, the service is designed to work at the network level.
“Today we live in a very complicated world,” Al-Sayegh said, describing the company’s aim of providing child safety through a “zero-touch approach.”
More than government regulation
The launch comes as governments internationally consider stricter age restrictions on social media. But Al-Sayegh argues that legislation is only one part of the solution.
He believes parents also need to play an active role in their children’s digital safety and should have access to technology that makes that responsibility easier.
His comments come at a time when concerns around children’s exposure to social media and unsuitable online content are becoming an increasingly prominent global issue.
For Beyond One, the concept for Aman was also shaped by research among existing and potential customers in Saudi Arabia. The company found a common interest among parents in having tools that would allow their children to use connected devices outside the home while maintaining greater control over what they could access.
According to Al-Sayegh, parents specifically expressed interest in a SIM that could be used in tablets while providing a safer online environment.
A wider Virgin ambition in Saudi Arabia
Aman is also part of a broader push by Virgin Mobile to develop services beyond conventional telecom offerings.
Al-Sayegh said regulators in Saudi Arabia have encouraged operators to innovate beyond traditional data and voice services, while the company’s MVNO model gives it a lighter cost structure and allows it to target communities and customer segments that may be underserved by larger operators.
He also revealed that further Virgin-branded ventures in Saudi Arabia are under discussion following Sir Richard Branson’s visit to the Kingdom.
“There is ambition for more Virgin brand operations in KSA,” Al-Sayegh said, adding that Virgin Group is interested in contributing to Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s wider growth.
For now, however, Aman represents a particularly interesting proposition: a telecom product that deliberately limits one of the industry’s biggest drivers of consumption in favour of giving parents greater control over their children’s digital lives.
