Innovation is typically a good sign that will induce growth, but recent applications in wireless technologies may prove otherwise for telecommunications companies in exchange traded funds (ETFs).
After striking a potentially lucrative deal with Verizon Wireless (VZ), Walt Disney Co. (DIS) has plans to stay in wireless contact with theme park visitors, past and present, anywhere, reports Dawn Chmielewski for The Los Angeles Times. The plan allows visitors to download an application to their mobile phones that would allow Disney to pinpoint their location and recommend activities or restaurants to users.
The new service has broad implications for marketers and consumers, which may prove to be a controversial issue regarding privacy.
It is said that location-sensitive applications, such as the one Disney plans on using, are considered the next wave of marketing and advertising.
But will this help or hurt the telecoms? The industry’s reputation is already tarnished by their role in wiretapping scandals; will people really want them to be able to track them?
The Bush administration acknowledged in August American telecom’s role in domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency (NSA), writes Eric Lichtblau for The New York Times.