Andrew Seybold: Location, Location, Location

The title of this article is usually a cornerstone of a real estate agent selling a house, but in this case, it has to do with location-based services (LBS) and the wireless industry. Location-based services are becoming an important part of wireless that is making all of our lives easier--geo-tagging photos, getting from one place to another, knowing where we are, where we want to end up and what services are around us.

There are three elements to location: Where I am, where something I am seeking is and where I want to end up. Each of these elements has many variations and can be beneficial in many different applications. The first use of location in the U.S. wireless industry was mandated by the federal government with E911 systems. When I place a 911 call, the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) must know where I am. While there are various methods to determine this information today, most forms of E911 location determination cannot support other location-based services applications. This is because the E911 process was designed to provide a single location at a specific point in time for the purpose of sending assistance to an emergency.

However, wireless network operators knew location services could enhance their revenue so many of them here and in the rest of the world have spent time and money installing software, hardware and now more and more, GPS receivers in handsets and other wireless mobile devices. The first programs written to take advantage of these location capabilities were turn-by-turn traffic directions from companies such as Networks In Motion, TeleNav and others, and the ability to find the nearest ATM or Starbucks. Now there are more sophisticated programs that help fleet dispatchers route their vehicles in the most economical way and other applications designed for the business community.

New classifications of programs such as friend finder, child finder and even dog finder are available over most networks (but not yet across networks). However, today's focus is moving away from simply building specific applications using known locations toward location capabilities built into other types of applications to make them even more useful or powerful. The location industry has recognized that it has a valuable tool for many applications that can be enhanced by becoming location-aware.

Location is big business, not only for wireless network operators but for handset vendors and applications providers as well. During this September's CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show in San Francisco, location-based services will be taking center stage in a number of ways. The day prior to the show, Navteq will host its developer's conference for developers who want to learn more about how to incorporate LBS into other types of applications. My own Andrew Seybold Wireless University, which will be held the same day, will cover LBS and applications in the afternoon operating systems and applications session. 

Worldwide, many networks are not fully capable of providing location for applications. Generally, the GMS/UMTS networks are having to add GPS into both their networks and the handsets that operate them or make use of software-only location solutions. The CDMA networks (Sprint, Verizon, Alltel in the U.S.) have GPS built into them because it is used for timing purposes for handing off between cell sites. Further, most chipsets for CDMA devices include GPS receivers so virtually all of the devices on these networks are fully capable of providing their location (usually on an opt-in basis). However, it is more involved than simply writing an application and assuming you can access the device's location information. Some network operators limit access to this information to specific companies after determining the application runs properly over its network and there is some financial incentive to provide the location information.

But the more interest there is from the developer community, the more open and trusting the network operators should become, and this translates into easier access to the location data. So when you are thinking about the next application you want to write and make available on wireless devices, think about adding in location capabilities to enhance it, and remember it is about Location: Where am I? Location: Where do I want to be? and Location: What is the location of what I am looking for? As in the real estate business, the LBS industry is about Location, Location, Location! -Andrew M. Seybold