The Global Positioning System service started late July by SK Telecom has attracted more than 4,000 subscribers in about three weeks. Compared with a previous GPS service which confirmed the district a party was located in by base stations, the new service has wider areas of application, including precise location of, for example a child or elderly person with Alzheimer’s Disease, and is attracting more subscribers.

According to SK Telecom, subscribers to date are mostly couples or sales staff working outside from insurance companies, quick delivery services, or rental cars. Fee per use is about W500, but the service is available only with a separate cell phone embedded with the chip for GPS use. The location of a third party is marked as a red dot on a map displayed on the cell phone.

A university student only identified as her surname Park who recently began subscribing the service with her boyfriend said it was fun to confirm his whereabouts 24 hours, but sometimes she felt a little uncomfortable with the sense of loss of privacy.

KTF’s GPS Angel Eye released February this year is another form of GSP on the Internet and looks like a beeper, though it is not a mobile handset. The location of a child or senior citizen is detectable on the Net whenever you are curious about their position. Its subscribers amount to 5,000, of whom 50% are for children, 20% are senior citizens with senile dementia, while the remainder are sales staff at rental car or cargo transportation businesses.