Cingular has stated that in early 2006 it will discontinue the first consumer wireless handset LBS services offered in the United States; Find Friends and Find Things Nearby. While much of AT&T Wireless’ mMode offerings have made the transition over to Cingular’s MEdia Net, these two services have remained absent.
Cingular claims that the reason is due to technical inferiorities in the Cingular GSM network, despite continuing network integration with the AT&T Wireless network. Cingular did not disclose why GSM tower triangulation services on the AT&T Wireless network could not function after network integration had completed, which brings into question Cingular’s motives for shutting down the free LBS services.
