U.S. Cellular is the latest wireless operator to offer its customers location-based applications from Gearworks’ Etrace suite.

The software gives business workers location, time-on-job, and travel-time tracking, plus dispatch, mobile reporting and turn-by-turn navigation.

“Leveraging the flexibility of our Appmosphere carrier-class mobile application delivery platform, we are able to offer U.S. Cellular a portfolio of location-based mobile business applications designed to meet the specific needs of their network and their customers,” said Gearworks CEO Todd Krautkremer in a press release.

Alltel, recently acquired by Verizon Wireless, also has the Etrace catalog, as do AT&T, Sprint Nextel and SouthernLINC.

The announcement comes amid increased interest in mobile location-based services (LBS). Location-based technologies are currently being implemented in a variety of consumer- and operator-based applications, including mobile social networking. At the beginning of 2008, Gartner forecast that worldwide subscribers to LBS communications would increase in 2008 by 168%, with projected revenue growth of 169%.