Sprint pioneers electronic parental tether

RESTON, Va., April 13 (UPI) -- Sprint Nextel is the first telecommunications company to offer parents an electronic tether for their children.

The system uses global positioning system technology through a chip in a child's cellular phone. Parents can use their own phone or computer to find a child's whereabouts.

"It's a huge market and largely untapped right now," Rob Enderle, an industry analyst, told the Chicago Tribune. "Kids want phones, but nothing really deals with their parents' concerns. This will quickly spread to all of the wireless services."

The Sprint "Family Locator" service offers a number of parental controls for $9.99 a month. Parents can set electronic fences so that they get a warning if children leave a specified area, or the system can be programmed to check for children's whereabouts at specified intervals.

Several other companies are expected to offer similar services soon.

There is one problem -- children can thwart their parents by turning their cell phones off.