July 27, 2005

A consumer protection group, along with a children's advocates sent letters to key members of Congress yesterday, urging the legislators to carefully evaluate the serious implications of marketing wireless phones to children.

Citing recent efforts by Firefly Mobile, Wherify and others-as well as the planned mobile virtual network operator service from the Walt Disney Internet Group using Sprint Corp.'s network-the consortium called for members of the commerce committees of both houses of Congress to investigate the marketing and sale of wireless phones to children.

The letter-writing campaign was organized by Commercial Alert, a nonprofit activist group based in Portland, Ore.

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Supporters of the campaign include former Federal Communications Commission chief Nicholas Johnson and Phyllis Schlafly, president of the Eagle Forum.

"The targeting of young children as the next growth market for the telecom industry is one of the worst ideas to appear in the American economy in a long time," the group claims in the letter.

"Does anyone really believe that kids today lack sufficient distractions from their school work, that there are insufficient disruptions in the home, and that child predators and advertisers lack sufficient means of access to kids?"

The letter listed several specific concerns, including the potential for child predators to contact children through mobile phones, a lack of parental control over billing, and children's health issues.

The "tween" market represents a lucrative and mostly untapped segment for wireless companies.

Last week, new research from iGillottResearch found that more than 15 percent of U.S. tweens will own wireless phones by 2009. The study indicated children as young as 6 years old are already using their own phones, and 4 million of the 26 million pre-teenagers will have their own handsets in four years.

Source: RCR News