The survey
In order to stimulate discussion on LBS, Sarantel commissioned a global survey to gauge consumer views, usage and future expectations of location based services on mobile handsets.
Key findings are that half of consumers who were aware of LBS would chose an LBS enabled handset over one without, and that 34 percent would be prepared to pay extra for the privilege. The most common types of service those polled imagined using were location of nearby services and being able to alert emergency services to their location,
"People are not going to walk down the street trying to navigate from a screen; they will use audio navigation," said Wither. "Things like gaming applications and mobile advertising are key drivers for greater positional accuracy. There's going to be a subset of those that will require really good performance - i.e. knowing what side of the street you're on."
Of course Sarantel's vested interest in these findings is clear for all to see, and it makes no attempt to disguise it. But Wither hopes that by discussing such research with leading technology publications, he will help grow the buzz around the subject.
"We're probably 2-3 years away from mass-market uptake of LBS, but within the last six months we're seeing this subject being discussed more and more," said Wither.