Location-based services in high demand

With the nation seeking ways to crack down on sex crimes, wireless operators could reap the benefits by offering location-based services.
These services are being touted as possibly one of the best preventive measures against sex offenders repeating their crime after release from prison.

The country's largest wireless operator SK Telecom Co. has seen the subscription of its safety-related services rise from 2.45 million last December to 2.61 million last February, SK Telecom said.

It means that 152,000 new customers have joined the service during the last two months.

Subscribers of the second-largest operator KTF Co.'s "mobile police" service also increased 23 percent during the same period, from 85,000 to 105,000, the company said.

The smallest carrier LG Telecom Ltd. also added 30,000 new subscribers to its "friend-search" service during the same period.

Thanks to the widespread use of location-based technologies, like the global positioning system, mobile-phone users are able to get accurate information on the whereabouts of loved ones.

There are even ways to use these services for free.

SK Telecom's "emergency call" service, for instance, enables a user to simultaneously call four persons, who are listed as their "protectors in emergency," by simply pressing a hot-key on his mobile handset.

Automatically, information on his whereabouts and an electronic map appear in the window of the four receiving handsets.

To use the service, the subscriber needs a handset equipped with GPS functions.

Also, the carrier's "i-Kids" service enables parents to keep track of their children using their cell phones, the internet and GPS satellite technology.

Parents can use the service free of charge up to 20 times but get charged 80 won per use after that.

The mobile carrier also offers the so-called "safety zone" service.

Designed for kids' safety, the service gives general information on a child's location, by setting up three different safety zones, each with a two-kilometer radius.

If a kid gets out of the safety zone, parents are immediately notified.

The service is offered free for eight checks per day, according to SK Telecom.

Other than these services, the operator has a "route-tracking service," which informs parents of their child's latest moves, and "location-informer" service, which sends one's location via handset to an agreed partner.

By aligning with personal security firm CAPS, SK Telecom and KTF offer the so-called mobile police services, which enable a customer to call security guards by pressing a hot-key. KTF charges a monthly fixed fee of 3,500 won for the service.

(siyoungh@heraldm.com)


By Hwang Si-young