By 2005, mobile location services will reach all 148 million wireless subscribers in North America, according to a study by Ovum, an independent telecommunications and information technology analyst firm.
Ovum also predicts service revenues for mobile location services in North America will reach $2.4 billion by 2005.
The report, “Mobile Location Services: the Business Opportunity,” attributes growth in mobile location services to competition between network providers and regulatory pressures.
“Mobile location services are important for network operators because they provide a means of differentiation, a way to reduce churn and a new revenue stream in an increasingly competitive market,” said Thomas Blonz, co-author of the report.
In addition, a Federal Communications Commission mandate on enhanced 911 services requires service providers by 2001 to be able to provide public-safety answering points with the location of wireless callers to within 125 meters 67 percent of the time. The mandate has led to a crop of new companies hoping to get their foot in the door with safety and then expand their location capabilities to include revenue-generating services, such as navigation assistance, traffic information and personalized information services.
Location companies take different approaches to locating wireless callers. Handset-based location solutions employ Global Positioning System technology to pinpoint a caller’s location. Network-based solutions, such as Angle of Arrival and Time Difference of Arrival technologies, calculate a caller’s position by gathering data at two or more cell sites.
Blonz said he thinks vehicle location applications, which do things such as automatically notifying emergency dispatchers when an airbag is deployed, most likely will remain based on GPS. However, wireless carriers are more likely to adopt network-based solutions to meet the E911 mandate and eventually to provide other location-based services, said Blonz.
Although deployment of location services is not yet widespread, some location services already are available. In the consumer market, said the report, initial services have centered on traffic and navigation information for the high-end consumer market.
The consumer market has been slower to adopt these services because free services such as traffic broadcasts already are available, the systems are expensive and service providers have concentrated on providing services to the commercial sector, said the report.
“The status of mobile location services has been quite different from one service category to another,” said Blonz. “Until now the main service deployments have been in the commercial sector where fleet management systems and dispatch services have been adopted by fleet operators. Other commercial services launched include logistical systems and precision applications such as precision farming and precision fishing.”
According to the report, five key service categories are likely to grow the market for mobile location services, including safety services, information services, tracking services, remote services and location-based billing services.
“Emergency and safety services have many substitutions but are potentially the easiest to sell to the consumer group,” said Blonz.
“Owing to their straightforward appeal, they are most likely to be used as a `hook’ to entice users to employ other location services.
“Meanwhile, tracking services, which use devices such as GPS receivers and electronic tags to locate and monitor cargo, will benefit commercial groups involved in transportation and logistics.”
