Mobile tracking services get parental thumbs-up

Tracking applications could be a lucrative location-based service for mobile operators to exploit according to research.

Mobile tools that allow individuals to be located and tracked would appeal to two distinct groups according to the Location-Based Services: Where Are You report from analyst house JupiterResearch.

Forty-two per cent of the parents surveyed, all with children under the age of 13, said they would be interested and willing to pay for services that would allow them to track the whereabouts of their children.

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Julie Ask, research director at JupiterResearch, said that as only a small number of children under 13 currently have mobile phones, the level of interest from parents is significant.

In addition, just over one-quarter (26 per cent) of mobile users aged 18 to 24 said they would be interested in mobile social networking apps based on the location of their friends.

But the use of some location-based services already available remains low. Just three per cent of mobile users surveyed said they use mobile navigation tech such as maps or turn-by-turn navigation.

The report suggests operators should try to educate consumers as they become more interested in the technology, to capitalise on the growing consumer base.