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Why Did Parental Control Of Cell Phones Take So Long

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by Kevin Maney
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Sep 04 2007 12:00am EDT

Why Did Parental Control of Cell Phones Take So Long?

Talk about a long overdue development in the cell phone industry: AT&T today launches a service that lets parents set limits and boundaries on their kids' cell phones. Parents now can have control over when a phone can get calls, how many text messages can be sent, and what can be downloaded.

This kind of parental control has been needed for at least the past five years, as more families buy cell phones for their teenage kids. To any parent with a cell phoned teenager, it's also pretty apparent why the carriers have dragged their feet to do this: It will cut down on the carriers' revenue. Teens tend to make a habit of vastly exceeding their text messaging plans and downloading multiple music videos and ring tones, resulting in whopping extra charges on the monthly bill. So AT&T is no doubt doing this because it thinks customers want parental controls badly enough that they will switch carriers to get it. Otherwise, it's a money-losing proposition.

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