SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–Wireless location services for businesses could top 1 million subscribers by 2010, according to new figures from In-Stat.
The technology market research firm said the location-based services business market is set to nearly double during the next five years from fewer than 600,000 users to 1.1 million. Applications expected to drive uptake include fleet management and dispatch, workforce and sales management and a variety of public-sector uses.
But In-Stat warned that carriers need to pursue the market aggressively by deploying more location-capable handsets and offering attractive applications.
“The forecast for enterprise location-enabled applications using handsets depends on how carriers and applications vendors sort out how they will market these applications and how to structure the billing relationship,” said Allyn Hall, an In-Stat director. “In addition, the availability of handsets that are compatible with location-based services is a key factor that depends on marketing and expenditure decisions by carriers.”
