On Mobile Location Based Services
Guest Post By Umar Farooq
This post is referring to the service you use on your mobile device, which is powered by your location at the moment in time. It could have GPS working behind it or could be the network operators Base Stations ( Antenna Towers ) where your location is being calculated.
In the recent past, operators have a hard time deciding whether to offer Location Based Services or not. Arguments in favor of the debate include,
1) Large Subscriber bases
2) Increasing mobile penetration
3) Availability of more advertisement real estate
and against the debate,
1) Substantial infrastructure cost
2) Market readiness
3) Driving safety
There are more arguments on both sides but these could be taken as primary ones at the moment. Looking a the arguments in favor, the only point which will effect the service for the end-user is the where it will enable operators to use it as an advertisement real-estate. Subscribers will be bothered every-time they pass by a pizza outlet, which has placed its advertisement with the respective operator. An SMS on your handset every time you pass near a boutique, can become quite irritating.
Arguments against the service keep in view that market may have become quite large but it is not ready to take on complex services at this moment. It will be sometime before market matures itself to the point of absorbing this service.And then the disturbance it will cause while you are driving, could be significant enough to mark an increase in road accidents.
While keeping all of this in view, it would be worthy to find out what the readers of this blog feel about this service, if introduced into the market.
Please feel free to post your comments about the possible pros and cons of this service.
Umar Farooq is currently working as Director at a telecommunication services and consulting company. He has worked with Ericsson in the past, with its Systems Integration unit. Umar is a graduate of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Insitute.
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They can’t stop Google. Google is already working on technology to provide free LBS APIs which can locate user who is browsing a web page. I am all for LBS.
Google is using what’s called “Poor man’s GPS”. It can tell the approximate location and its good enough for practical purposes.
Check this out to get an idea of the location/gps related activity in South Asian region :
http://bangalore.canalysnavigationforum.com/page.asp?id=60
Babar bhai if you check the video Link i gave you on facebook, you will find that Google is not using GPS.
Google Map is not substitute of GPS. GPS is entirely different thing. It gives more accurate information. You can’t find full Karachi Map on Google with each street number and road details but you can find for GPS. Only thing is this that you have to buy that city map and install in your vehicle or in mobile for using it.
The statement “An SMS on your handset every time you pass near a boutique, can become quite irritating” is not entirely true. Umar probably is referring here to a technology called Cell Broadcast. In Cell Broadcast, control (turning it ON or OFF) is in the subscriber handset. Therefore, if a customer turns it off, he/she will not be getting such broadcast messages.