COSTA RICA TECH NEWS – State mobile operator Kölbi launched a new service for its clients who want to discover where their cellular phone contacts are, as long as they authorize it.
Using a mobile app for Android devices (no word when it will be available on the OS system, ie iPhones), or from a website, Kölbi users can receive a text message of the location of their contact’s cell phone. The “locator” is charged a fee, while the service is free to the person being located.
“This service is aimed at people in a household who need to be located to provide security to the group. The idea is to know where the people who matter and may require special care, such as children and older adults are,” said Danny Salas, Kölbi’s Marketing Manager.
The service costs ¢3.390 that includes 20 locations per month. Users can purchase additional locations as desired.
Activating the service is by sending the text message “ACTIVA to 9871, the charge will then be reflected on the monthly billing of the subscription account, or reduced from the balance of pre-paid users.
To cancel, send the message “DESACTIVA” to 9781.
The service does not locate every user on the network, only those who have agreed to be listed and have expressly authorized the network to access their location. It only applies to Kölbi’s coverage area.
Unable to be located are those cellular phones that are turned off or their service is switched off due to nonpayment. (Unlike in the movies, you don’t have to remove the battery from the cell phone not to be tracked.)
Kölbi says it can located the cell phone within a 500 metre radius in urban area and 2 kilometres in rural areas.
