The disappointing location-based services market got a boost Thursday with the announcement that Qualcomm and Loopt will team to make the mobile technology less expensive and more readily available to more customers.

Loopt, a Mountain View, California, company that offers a mobile friend finder service, said it licensed Qualcomm’s QPoint location software to provide advanced location-based services to a broader set of mobile carriers.

The QPoint software, which is marketed by Qualcomm’s SnapTrack subsidiary, is a widely used, high-performance GPS tracking technology. Tying itself into the global QPoint network of licensees allows Loopt to more easily address a wider market.

But the deal also has some cost benefits. Loopt will pay a flat licensing fee rather than a per transaction charge.

Per transaction licensing rates have proven to be a major stumbling block in the location-based services market.

Location-based queries generate little cash on a per query basis. In fact the licensing cost of each transaction, even though it is measured in pennies, is frequently higher than the revenue it generates.

“The accuracy of GPS intensive applications like ours is dependent on frequent use of location-based information, and QPoint helps enable the use of location applications in a cost-effective manner,” Sam Altman, Loopt CEO, said in a statement.

Loopt has had to market its technology to individual carriers rather than a broad-based market. Loopt offers its location-based service to Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, Alltel, and as a downloadable app in the iPhone App Store.

Location-based services have been around for about five years, but despite early analyst enthusiasm the technology has languished. In the last few months analysts have dramatically scaled back their projections for the technology. (see Will Location-Based Service Find Itself?)

Privacy-sensitive Americans are initially wary of tracking applications, according to eMarketer senior analyst John du Pre Gauntt.