Next Generation Services Now Telescope

Location Based Services – The Next Killer Application

Panelists:

  • Raghunath Mandava
    CMO, Airtel
  • Vinay Goel
    Country Head – Products, Google India
  • Yogesh Bijlani
    Country Head & GM APAC, Telenity

Technologies Featured:

  • Airtel Buddy Finder Service
  • Google Latitude
  • Telenity People Finder Service on a USSD Platform

Location based services (LBS) have been talked about for quite a while and many industry giants are foraying in this field in the past few years. Google Latitude has the maximum recall as it has been a highly publicized service by Google that caters to the top end of the pyramid that are advanced users of VAS. High-end location technology (GPS) available on smart phones with data plans reaches out to niche subscribers who are actively using mobile Internet. It enables them to find out their location, points of interest, their friend’s location and sharing such updates between their community of friends.

In a recent service launch example Airtel – India’s leading operator – has taken innovation to the next level by offering a similar service but focusing on a mass offering across the complete pyramid. Airtel has enabled the same functionality on all handsets, without the need of data service, by simply dialing a USSD string (*321*88#). Their Buddy Finder Service is enabled for all of their 120 million subscribers. By simply dialing the universal code, a mother can get to know the location of her teenagers who are partying late at night, or a wife can start the dinner preparation because she has checked and saw that her spouse has just left the office, or an employer knows the location of all his team members who are out on a sales call. The ability of knowing the location of any mobile handset to an approximate 300 meter of accuracy opens a plethora of applications and the services are being consumed by a large number of subscribers.

This is a business model that can be replicated in all emerging markets around the world especially in Middle East and Africa where a majority of subscribers use low-end handsets and still want to enjoy high end VAS services like LBS.

Given the exciting scenario around location, NDTV – India’s leading news channel – held a panel discussion around “Innovation in VAS – LBA the Next Frontier” on its popular show Cell Guru hosted by Rajiv Makhni, a famous technology journalist.

The panel brought together three leading companies in the LBS space - Google, Airtel and Telenity. The panel discussion revolved around how location based applications are opening a new frontier in VAS and the host of interesting services that will be offered to subscribers in India in 2010.

Do watch the interesting debate on LBS and its future in India.

 

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