Follow that Phone

Keeping track of certain stars was easy during this year’s London Marathon, when Sir Ralph Fiennes, Nell McAndrew, Lorraine Kelly, Adrian Moorhouse and six other celebrity fun runners carried mobile phones connected to Trace A Mobile.com’s tracking service.

Each runner carried a mobile phone during the race; the accounts were accessible by police and other entities. The technology tracked the runners’ whereabouts, and helped authorities and emergency personnel address security issues.

In a recent survey of 2,160 parents, the Londonbased company found adults are buying mobile phones for children as young as four due to fear of child abduction and to curb teenage runaways. Almost two-thirds of the parents said they would register their child’s phone with an online mobile phone tracking service, if it meant they could locate the user’s switched-on mobile phone anywhere in Great Britain.

Kudos to Covad

The Covad Broadband Entrepreneur Program awarded about 95 microentrepreneurs - businesses with up to five employees and $35,000 or less in startup capital - a $500 grant and complimentary broadband service for one year. In 2003, the program’s first year, Covad worked with 10 local nonprofit organizations that support microlending and entrepreneurship; and in 2004, Covad will expand to 16 organizations. The program also will be expanded from eight states to 13.

Overheard…

“A community of 1,100 people, Crawford, Neb., attracted a new car dealership because of broadband.

That’s 10 more jobs for that town. This can be done in rural America and done well.”

-Roberta Purcell, assistant administrator to the Telecommunications Program RUS, in remarks during a luncheon at April’s Spring ISPCon in Washington, D.C., on bringing broadband to the underserved.

Alternate Channel