AT&T news: it wants to extend iPhone exclusivity, and launches child-locator app

There’s two pieces of AT&T activity to talk about today. First, it wants to hold on to it’s iPhone exclusivity for as long as possible. Second, it has become the latest in a number of companies providing family security for mobile, with it’s mobile device tracker.

iPhone:

According to various sources, AT&Ts exclusive hold on the iPhone in the US is running out next year. Unsurprisingly, AT&T would like to continue as it has before - even considering the massive concessions it has had to make. The operator has almost no control over the user experience on the device, and pays significant revenue to Apple. The real question is: would Apple benefit from further exclusivity with AT&T? 3G Mobile networks are far more easily accessed now - every carrier has at least some mobile Internet connectivity. I would imagine that Apples sales of it’s “King of Smarphones” would be much healthier with more operators on board

FamilyMap:

AT&T has announced it’s new service, FamilyMap. The service tracks the mobile phones of family members, the location of which can be viewed on mobile and fixed Internet. Touted a “child locator solution”, it allows users to track between 2 and 5 phones for a monthly fee of $9.99 to $14.99.

Powered by Wavemarket, FamilyMap displays locations on a map, and offers text alerts for regular location checks. As regards privacy, AT&T has taken some pains to ensure that only people who agree to be tracked, or phones that are on the same family plan, can be tracked

From the release:

“More than 60 percent of AT&T wireless customers are part of a family plan or multiple line account, so there’s a considerable number of our subscribers whom we believe will find this service beneficial,” said Mark Collins, vice president of Voice and Data Products for AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets.

What we think?

Tracking for security is a regularly recurring service on mobile - it’s one of the more controversial capabilities of smartphones. The “where are my children?” aspect has been capitalised on before. PocketFinder saw great success with this, though it’s service included a physical component that the child had to carry - which combates the privacy issues to a great extent. Nobody wants to be tracked via their mobile phone - it’s such a personal object that this kind of service would feel grossly invasive. A similar but much more comprehensive service was launched by Nokia earlier this year, and we’ve heard very little from it since. And an almost identical service from Sprint last year (also developed by Wavemarket) didn’t make much of a splash either.