Skip to main content

Explore the Era of Mobile Location-Based Services

​As the mobile service provider's traditional sources of communications revenues decrease, the move towards 4G LTE enables new potential streams of revenues -- including in-store retail applications, big data analytics, customer experience management (CEM) and personalized advertising.

Location-based technologies are at the center of these market developments.

According to their latest global market study, ABI Research has considered the applications, industry verticals and technologies that will drive new location-based revenue growth for mobile carriers worldwide.

"Location for carriers is no longer about navigation applications. Location will become an essential tool in network optimization and CEM, as we move to LTE, HetNets, and personalized subscriber packages," said  Patrick Connolly, senior analyst at ABI Research.

While these advances gives a clear return on investment, ABI says that there is also significant upside on new areas -- such as retail/indoor apps, financial/banking, big data analytics, and advertising.

Huge tertiary benefits aside, ABI Research forecasts associated telecom service provider revenues to approach $2 billion by 2019 in a market with far greater long-term potential.

This is reflected in a number of new and upcoming announcements from major carriers such as Verizon (Precision Market Insights, Smart Rewards), AT&T (Location Information Services), SK Telecom (Indoor Location), Telefnica Germany, O2 (Dynamic Insights), Orange (Data for Development), and Sprint (Pinsight Media).

From an advertising and analytics perspective, ABI has also noted an increase in joint ventures between carriers -- such as Weve in the United Kingdom -- providing the scale and frequency needed to compete. If this proves to be a success, it will be quickly replicated worldwide.

ABI believes that mobile internet service providers have been sitting on a location-based goldmine for too long, fearing a privacy backlash.

However, through careful segmentation of aggregated, anonymous analytics and advertising, coupled with clear opt in/out options and third party approval of anonymity, mobile network proiders can overcome any fears, while giving smartphone users the power to choose how their data is used.

Demand is growing for location-based information services and there is a perceived need for a Google alternative. Savvy mobile network service providers, in particular, are well placed in the analytics, retail, financial and advertising spaces to become just that.

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year