JEDDAH, 26 May 2005 — With Mobily providing its MMS service in the Kingdom, which allows pictures and video to be sent across the Etisalat network, some feel that this is the beginning of a mobile service provider race to provide subscribers with the most up-to-date services that are available in other markets around the globe.

A recent US government mandate — a part of the Patriot Act — requires all mobile manufacturers to place GPS transmitters in all mobiles manufactured, sold and used in the United States by the end of 2005. This has many privacy advocates, both in the US and Saudi Arabia, concerned.

Less than one year ago camera-equipped mobile phones were considered black market items, sold ‘under-the-counter’. Today they are available everywhere and the technology has advanced to allow full use of media messaging services.

Much like SMS allows instant text messaging, Mobily’s customers are now able to send pictures and video instantly. MMS technology has been in the US and European market for several years, and has become very popular in the Middle East over the past few months.

Saudi Arabia has been considered by many as a ‘late-bloomer’ when it comes to mobile and Internet services, but that is all changing as Saudi Telecom and Etisalat go head to head to provide their subscribers with services which rival one another and other mobile service providers as well. One service available through most major mobile phone service providers in the US is ‘location based’.

It allows customers to check on what landmarks are closest to their current physical location. In order to provide this service, the phone company needs to know where the phone is. This is done with GPS technology. When the phone is on, the phone continuously broadcasts the telephone’s (and the person’s) position within 150 meters, allowing the phone company network and software to calculate which services such as schools, hospitals, movie theaters, restaurants and other conveniences are closest to the phone’s location.

The US government mandated the inclusion of these transmitters as part of a multiphase plan to further enhance the US national emergency 911 telephone service. A call from a landline number in America will reveal the caller’s location to the emergency dispatcher immediately. However with mobile phone calls to 911, the caller must tell the dispatcher where he or she is. In cases in which one is unable to speak, the dispatcher is unable to determine where the help is needed.

Callers to 993, 997, 998, and 999 — Saudi Arabia’s emergency numbers — spend a great deal of time describing their location whether they are calling from a landline or a mobile. In emergencies, misunderstandings have occurred which have delayed the arrival of help — at times with tragic results. With a GPS transmitter in every mobile, many feel this problem will be eliminated.

GPS technology is already in use in many cars in America. One example of this is the General Motors ONSTAR system. The GPS receiver/transmitter for ONSTAR is built directly into the car’s electrical systems. GM puts ONSTAR transmitter and receivers in over 50 models of its cars and trucks. This service is sold as a customer convenience. GM can track your car and unlock it by satellite if you ever lock your keys in it. If the car is involved in a collision and the airbags are deployed, ONSTAR is immediately notified that an accident has occurred and where the car is located.

Mobile phone “location based” services are currently available on select mobiles, but with the changes required by the US E911 act, all telephones manufactured after 2005 must be fitted with GPS transmitters.

However for those who don’t want their locations monitored 24 hours a day, the E911 mandate seems like a personal invasion of their privacy. The potential for abuse has already been demonstrated in the United States. A growing number of private companies that provide satellite tracking services to anyone willing to pay.

According to a report in the Washington Post National Weekly, a pilot in New York was arrested for stalking. He hid a GPS tracking device in the car of a female acquaintance and then followed her in a low flying plane.

Stewart James, an aerospace contractor based in Saudi Arabia, is familiar with GPS technology. He told Arab News: “I don’t think the services that this technology will bring will be put to use anytime soon in Saudi Arabia, but with so many phones being manufactured in the US, many of these GPS phones will probably end up making their way here. If you have one of these phones your position can be picked up at monitoring stations around the world. GPS stands for global positioning satellite ... and that is exactly what it does. It locates your position on the globe using satellites.”