Location Based Service or LBS, is the ability to find the geographical location of the mobile device and provide services based on this location information. For an example a person at shopping mall calls for the nearest restaurant with economy budget, he needs only names and addresses of those restaurants which are within his reach, say within one sq.km., out of the database of say 2000 restaurants in the city spread over 1600 sq.km.
The foundation stone of Location Based Services was laid by the Federal Communications Commission of US (www.fcc.gov) ruling which required the network operators to provide emergency services by locating the user of the mobile device within 125 metres. It required wireless network operators to supply public emergency services with the caller’s location and callback phone number. This lastened the emergence of new and dynamic field called LBS, where the service was based on the geographical location of the calling device. Further, the developments in the field of Positioning Systems, Communications and GIS, fueled the imagination of the industry people with regards to the LBS. This ability to provide the user a customised service depending upon his geographical location could be used by telecommunication companies to restaurant owners.
In the days to come, the LBS will be benefiting both the consumers and network operators. While the consumers will have greater personal safety, more personalised features and increased communication convenience, the network operators will address discrete market segments based on the different service portfolios.
The Prospects of LBS
According to a poll by Integrated Data Communications, Inc. (IDC), two-thirds of Americans want wireless location-based services, with safety and security issues (emergency call, roadside assistance, and driving directions) as the primary reasons for wanting location-based services. Respondents to the survey on LBS are said to be even willing to pay a premium to have location capabilities in their handsets or receive advertising on their handsets to reduce or eliminate telematics service charges.
The size of LBS was $3.9 billion by 2004 in the United States now in 2009 its grown upto $15.0 billion in US and 150 billion through out world including the fast growing economies of India and China.
Allied Business Intelligence Inc (ABI) report, “Location Based Services: A Strategic Analysis of Wireless Technologies, Markets and Trends” report indicates that world LBS revenues will grow from approximately $1 billion in 2000 to over $40 billion in 2006. This growth will represent a compound annual average growth rate of 81%.
For the Asia-Pacific market, Strategis Groups says the wireless Internet users will reach 216.3 million by 2007, representing a ten-fold increase from the 20 million users in year 2000.
LBS Technology
With standing the growing market requirements, the LBS technology has moved from the specific systems to portal based services to clients,- specifically in the logistics managements. The companies like google, microsoft and GPS equipments manufacturers across the globe has caught the scope of industry making the LBS accessible to all through innovative mobile technologies and services available with nominal fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment