Location Based Services Use

Location Based Service (LBS) Use

The need to know the location of people, places, and things will continue to be a fundamental element of our existence. Whether it is locating the nearest point of interest, locating our child on the crowded beaches, valued possession, or co-workers, location is something we rely on every day to run our personal and professional lives. Today location has begun to take root in wireless communities around the world. It is clear that location will be a part of future wireless experience, however there are still questions about what is needed to make location the most valuable, to the broadest base of people. Another issue is the limitations of GPS which disables the service providers to deliver services at the right place. If we look back to the history of Positioning Systems we see a certain characteristic change through its development since 1957. No one knows where this change will end up....

Enablers

• Changing life style: The changing life style of becoming more flexible and mobile has increased the demand for more “on the spot” services. The time pressure on people’s live will enforce them to use their time as efficient as possible. Besides that people are willing to pay for creating comfort.
• Portable devices: With forecast of billion mobile devices in use by 2007, the 'anytime anywhere' advantages of mobile services are very apparent. All the mobile devices like cell phones, laptops, PDAs will be fitted out with Positioning System receivers.
• Reliability of Galileo: The assurance that the signals will always be available encourages companies to build on that. They believe in the future of Galileo and keep investing in new opportunities regarding LBS.

Inhibitors

The privacy issues are the major inhibitors of Galileo. Although people are willing to pay for comfort at the same time they have concerns about getting traced and tracked. From a psychological point of view people feel inconvenient when someone might know where they are going or which services they are using.

There are no current instant payment systems. A lot of people are not willing to subscribe for a lot of services. In the urban areas in which there might be eight LBS providers people are not willing to subscribe for eight different providers.

The availability of the signals is only outdoor. There is a huge potential of using LBS for indoor purposes which will remain uncovered.

The health issues are another inhibitor in this case. The effect of health issues are less unless there will be a research which will claim major effects on people’s health.

Paradigms

Galileo will succeed and there will be continuous improvement

The Galileo is available no matter there is war or not

Companies are willing to invest in LBS

The quality of the services offered are good from technological point of view

Experts

European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, US Department of Defense

Garmin, TomTom

Mobile Network Providers like Vodafone, KPN etc.

Time sensitive life style