JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Gamma is backing Rebel Telecom as the startup heads to Parliament, amid a wider debate in Britain over children’s online safety.

Rebel Telecom has built a mobile offer for children that combines a smartphone, its own operating system, a parent app and a SIM service linked to funding for schools and youth programmes. Gamma is supporting the business through its mobile virtual network operator platform.

Discussion in Westminster has intensified as policymakers consider tighter online rules for children, including proposals to limit social media access for under-16s. Ofcom figures cited by the companies show that 94% of secondary school-aged children now own a mobile phone, with ownership rising as pupils move from primary to secondary school.

Rather than relying only on restrictions added to standard devices, Rebel Telecom says it has designed its system specifically for children. Its operating system removes unrestricted web browsing and social media by design, while allowing parents to introduce features gradually as a child gets older.

Schools can also place devices into a restricted mode during the school day, the company says, in an effort to support existing school policies on mobile phone use.

Parliament focus

The parliamentary briefing has brought together MPs, peers, educators and technology executives to discuss the role innovation can play in children’s digital wellbeing. For Gamma, backing Rebel Telecom is a bet on a startup trying to address a politically sensitive issue through product design and a social funding model.

The telecom model also includes a give-back mechanism. Rebel Telecom says every SIM plan for families, individuals or businesses allows customers to direct a share of their monthly spending to a school, university, college or the YESS Foundation.

Mike Mills, Managing Director of Service Providers at Gamma, explained why the company chose to support the venture.

“At Gamma, we’ve always believed technology should improve lives. When we first met Munur and the Rebel Telecom team, it was clear this wasn’t simply another mobile proposition. It was an opportunity to use connectivity as a force for good. Supporting organisations with bold ideas is part of who we are, but what really resonated was the purpose behind Rebel Telecom. Their ambition to help children develop healthier relationships with technology, while giving back to schools and communities, aligns closely with our own values. We’re proud that our MVNO platform has helped turn that vision into reality, and we’re equally proud to see that conversation now taking place in Parliament,” said Mike Mills, Managing Director of Service Providers at Gamma.

Child-first model

Rebel Telecom argues that devices for children should be built differently from mainstream smartphones. Its model is based on the view that children should not be handed adult devices and left to adapt to them.

Munur Shah, Co-founder of Rebel Telecom, said: “This has never been about creating another mobile network. It’s about creating an intentional digital ecosystem that educates and protects children, empowers parents, supports healthy development and gives back to the communities raising the next generation. We believe technology should safeguard children. That means designing technology for children, not handing them adult devices and expecting them to adapt. Healthier digital lives begin with education and design.”

Shah linked the parliamentary invitation to a broader policy shift.

“The invitation to Parliament reflects something much bigger than Rebel Telecom. It shows there is growing recognition that industry has an important role to play alongside parents, educators and government in shaping healthier digital lives for young people. Gamma believed in our vision from an early stage and gave us the platform to turn that vision into reality. Without that support, we simply wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Shah.

Gamma is a communications provider with operations across Europe and more than 2,200 employees. The group sells to businesses and public sector organisations, with core markets in the UK and Germany and additional operations in Spain and the Benelux region.

For Rebel Telecom, the parliamentary appearance is an early test of whether a specialist mobile provider can win attention in a sector dominated by larger consumer brands while also influencing the policy debate around young people’s use of smartphones. The company says it is already working with schools across the country.

The shopping centre was given a £440m revamp in 2017, with the addition of 100 new shops and restaurants, an anchor store John Lewis, and a rooftop terrace and cinema.

Westgate Oxford supported 1,527 jobs across Landsec, its retail partners and businesses operating at the destination retail centre.

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It also helped 110 people move closer to employment through initiatives such as employability partnerships, which provide valuable industry experience, and work placements.

The research also found the centre delivered £1.3m in ‘social value’ in 2025 through investment in local communities and employment initiatives, including bursaries, community grants, volunteering and partnerships.

Clare Martin, centre director at Westgate Oxford, said: “Retail destinations are part of the fabric of the communities they serve. They help local businesses grow, create employment opportunities and provide places where people can come together, connect and spend time.

“The findings published today demonstrate the important contribution Westgate Oxford continues to make to Oxford. By investing in the destination, supporting employment, working with community partners and operating more sustainably, we’re helping businesses and communities thrive. In turn, that attracts further investment, supports long-term growth and creates lasting value for the local area.”

Clare Martin, centre director of Westgate Oxford (Image: Westgate Oxford)

Alongside its economic and social contribution, the centre continues to invest in a more sustainable future.

In 2025, the destination reduced its energy intensity by 24%, reflecting Landsec’s commitment to creating places that deliver lasting value for local communities and the environment.

Sustainability goals also shaped the centre’s community initiatives during the year with the ‘Made in Oxford’ enterprise challenge inviting students from four local schools to explore creative placemaking and environmental sustainability to reimagine their local retail space.

A commitment to the environment was supported by on-site initiatives, keeping the centre ahead of UK environmental legislation by increasing recycling rates and empowering guests to reduce single-use plastic consumption through the ‘Refill Me’ scheme.

Alongside these local programmes, Westgate Oxford maintained strong commercial momentum through 2025, strengthening its retail offering and driving visitor numbers with the arrival of new brands including the region’s first store from beauty brand Sephora and much-loved burger restaurant The Beefy Boys, alongside larger stores and investment from Goldsmiths, Superdrug, and Oliver Bonas.

Retailer confidence in the centre and the city remains strong through 2026 with the recent arrivals of both Lego and David Clulow, and global fashion brand Bershka set to open its first Oxfordshire store at the shopping centre later this year, offering even more choice for guests.

Sentinel ICCS has selected Macrium as its standard backup and recovery supplier, with deployment delivered through channel partner Clarion.

The agreement covers the industrial and operational technology environments Sentinel ICCS designs, secures and supports for customers in critical infrastructure sectors, including oil and gas, power, utilities, manufacturing and marine operations.

Formerly known as Eldor, Sentinel ICCS focuses on industrial control systems, operational technology and cybersecurity. Its customer environments often include legacy or unsupported systems, fully air-gapped networks and sites with no dedicated on-site IT support.

These conditions create recovery challenges when equipment fails. In some cases, replacement hardware or software is no longer available, making backup and restoration central to operational continuity.

Macrium said Sentinel ICCS chose its product because it can run backup and recovery processes without interrupting operational networks. The companies highlighted configurable network throttling, which allows backups to take place without affecting plant traffic.

Legacy systems

This matters in environments where industrial systems must remain available and many assets are ageing. In these settings, recovery tools must work within operational constraints rather than impose new ones on production systems.

By standardising on Macrium, Sentinel ICCS will use the product across the customer estates it supports where recovery speed and reliability are essential. The arrangement also gives it a single backup and recovery approach across multiple client environments.

“Our customers rely on technology that simply can’t afford to fail,” said Dave Joyce, chief executive officer of Macrium Software.

“The environments Sentinel ICCS supports present some of the toughest recovery challenges, with legacy systems, air-gapped networks and no margin for error. We’re proud that Sentinel ICCS has chosen Macrium to help ensure its customers recover quickly and confidently when it matters most,” Joyce said.

Sentinel ICCS said its work often involves industrial infrastructure running on software that is no longer commercially available, leaving operators with limited options if a system outage affects a critical process.

“We often protect critical infrastructure running on software you simply cannot buy anymore,” said Carl Townsend, managing director of Sentinel ICCS.

“If one of those systems fails, there often is not a replacement, so recovery has to work,” Townsend said.

Recovery focus

Macrium’s SiteBackup product will be used for central deployment and management of backup and recovery across the environments supported by Sentinel ICCS. The setup is intended to help manage dispersed or restricted sites from a central point.

The challenge is particularly acute in air-gapped environments, where systems are deliberately isolated from wider networks for security reasons. Such systems can be harder to maintain and recover because routine remote administration options are limited or unavailable.

Sentinel ICCS also linked the selection to service delivery, saying dependable recovery underpins the resilience it provides to infrastructure customers and supports its record on service-level agreement renewals.

“Macrium gives us the confidence that recovery will be there when we need it,” said Purna Kiran Mopidevi, service manager and cybersecurity specialist at Sentinel ICCS.

“There are a lot of tools that can take backups, but the ability to recover is what defines your cyber resilience,” Mopidevi said.

The decision reflects a broader emphasis in industrial cybersecurity on restoration as well as prevention. Operators of critical infrastructure increasingly have to plan how they will bring systems back after failures in environments where downtime can affect safety, output and essential services.

Macrium said other industrial groups, including Volvo, Sysmex and ABB, also use its products in operational technology and critical infrastructure settings. In Sentinel ICCS’s case, the focus is on environments where older systems and network isolation make recovery planning unusually complex.