Location:"Location Based Services: A Status Report of South East Asia"

The mobile phone, or 3rd screen, is one of the more personal of consumer electronic devices. Its potential is only just beginning to be tapped in South East Asia, one of the lucrative markets for Location based services on mobile devices. Location based services (LBS) help realize this potential by connecting users with the information they need, when and where they need it. It is a driver for network operators to unlock hidden network resources thereby generating hidden revenues, since they improve the capabilities of the mobile phone and give a new dimension to the relationship that people have with their mobile.

SE Asia, a diversified wireless market, has both - countries with advanced mobile technologies and services as well as the markets that still focus on basic services. Accordingly, LBS development differs amongst the SE Asian markets. Singapore, one of the advanced markets, has a number of categories of LBS applications available there. Much of this is attributed to the advanced data market, the existence of a complete mobile eco-system which is conducive for both application developers and content providers. The operators in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines are currently at the stage of considering LBS as a future revenue generating option. In most of these markets, mobile operators' priority, right now, is limited to expanding subscriber base and driving greater data traffic amongst mobile users - offering basic mobile data services which are simpler, provide quicker return-on-investment (ROI), and appeal to a larger target audience. However, the investment on LBS is beginning to happen and in the recent years, sale of software and services that let consumers find a nearby post office or the fastest route to a destination are finally starting to take off in the region. Services that give cell-phone users place-based info fast are finally taking hold and are being welcomed by revenue-hungry providers.

SINGAPORE
Singaporeans pride themselves on being technology-savvy. They are always on the look out for the latest gadgets and technologies that will enhance their work and leisure lifestyle. The total mobile voice and data market in Singapore has been experiencing anemic growth over the years as the market approaches saturation. With a total population of 4.55 million in 2007, the market's cellular penetration growth rate reached over 103.2%, one of the highest growth rates in the world. 3 out of 4 persons are now mobile phone subscribers. SMS traffic here is also The location based services market in South East Asia is attracting increasing attention from carriers due to the considerable potential in enhancing average revenue per user. This article talks about the development of LBS in South East Asia. amongst the highest in the world, with 52 per cent of mobile phone users using SMS more than once a day compared to the global average of 23 per cent. Therefore it is only to be expected that Singaporeans will be eager to try out the new and fast emerging location based services. In 2001 and 2002, the forerunners of LBS applications were Mobile One (M1) and Singtel. SingTel Mobile introduced Singapore's first such service called, *Send LBS, in 2001. The service allows customers to receive vicinityspecific information such as the location of nearby supermarkets or cinemas. Among other services, *Send LBS today can help customers book a taxi, find out bus services available nearby, and receive weather forecasts. Since December 2003, a prepaid location based and real-time information service has been offered by SingTel and Landmat (a mobile content provider), to travelers visiting Singapore. The service offers tourists to Singapore all tourist related information, via their mobile phone and prepaid SIM card. Information available includes location of restaurants, banks, nightlife attractions - a sort of personalized "tour guide" on a phone.

M1 introduced the service in 2002. Typical location-based services include proximity search which allows M1 customers to locate places of interest within their travel routes. Other services include traffic information maps, traffic alerts, and travel routing that enable commuters to plan their journey in the most convenient way, independent from their mode of transport. In order to catch up in sharing in the LBS market potential, Star Hub's location- based directory service Find-It was launched on September 5th, 2002. Find-It helps users locate nearest amenities by automatically determining their location be it ATMs, post offices, 4-D outlets, MRT stations or restaurants. Users can further define their search by sub-categories like ATM types or food by cuisine type (Chinese, Japanese, Western, etc.).

However, even after years of locationbased services launched by the three major operators in Singapore, limited revenue is being generated and user acceptance levels remain low. It was felt that location services offered like proximity search etc. are unnecessary in the island country as Singapore is a small country with convenient and wellplanned infrastructures, normal residents do not need the information resources to find certain locations. In the context of a compact country like Singapore where it's rather difficult to lose one's way and almost everything is within easy reach, the challenge with the operators was to identify and provide mobile location-based services that the customers would find useful and relevant. New initiatives were needed to overcome the geographical disadvantages by coming up with innovative ideas that would enable future development of LBS. A service such as location marketing where operators can offer some of the best shopping and restaurant deals nearest the location where the customer is in, is perhaps one such example. This has already started to happen.

Singapore's mobile network operator M1 is experimenting with sending text messages to its more than one million subscribers when they come within 100 metres of a shopping district in the centre of the city. The company says it sends 200,000-300,000 messages a day (not more than two messages to the same user in a single day) with what it claims are valuable promotions from more than 40 shops, restaurants and bars in and around the Orchard Street commercial centre. When a subscriber enters the Plaza Singapura shopping mall, there are signs encouraging him to switch on his Bluetooth and make himself visible. If done, promotions and advertisements will be pushed as one walks around the mall. The most successful advertiser has been an icecream stand.

MALAYSIA
Almost 84% of Malaysia's 26 million people had a mobile telephone service by March 2007, as the local mobile market appeared to be entering a consolidation phase. Since the launch of 3G mobile networks by Telekom Malaysia in late 2005, close to 500,000 subscribers have signed up to 3G services by March 2007. The LBS market in Malaysia is estimated to generate a total revenue of US$5 million by the year 2010. The two LBS providers in Malaysia are Maxis Communications Berhad (Maxis) and DiGi. In 2004, Maxis and DiGi in Malaysia introduced their location-based services to the public. DiGi categorized its friend finder services into travel finder and travel buddy services, targeting travelers to the country. With the Location- Based Friend Finder service, subscribers can locate their friends and family members. The LBS platform is capable of inter-operating across multiple networks, locally and overseas. As more operators offer the service in future, the reach of the service will be widened thus allowing subscribers of different operators and networks track one another's location via the interconnecting multiple platforms.

Maxis, through its prepaid brand Hotlink, launched Friend Finder, which allows users to locate friends, family and colleagues via SMS. The service is marketed as the first cellular network LBS being offered nationwide. Launched to coincide with Valentine's Day, Friend Finder enables customers to find their special someone through their mobile phones. With a few keystrokes on a mobile phone, a Friend Finder requestor is given the approximate geographic location of their friend, by area (such as KLCC) and state (Kuala Lumpur). It becomes convenient when friends are in the same vicinity, so they can then exchange messages and get in touch with each other. Consumer services have proved successful in Malysia, with over (500,000) subscribers to Maxis's 'friend finder' service. Maxis, in the beginning of 2005, had also launched Traffic Check, a service that enables city motorists to check real-time traffic conditions at selected locations, via MMS. Today with Traffic Check one can receive accurate traffic updates from more than 50 traffic cameras strategically located all around Klang Valley, Penang, and Johor Bahru. In 2005 itself, Cambridge Positioning System (CPS) launched Matrix-driven high accuracy location-based services in partnership with Maxis Communications Berhad ("Maxis") and mobile data services provider JAS Mobile Solutions Sdn Bhd. Targeting the enterprise market and personal use, the new service offers precision vehicle, workforce and asset tracking in Malaysia. In 2007, Yahoo signed a partnership with Maxis to offer a suite of mobile programs packaged in its Yahoo Go for Mobile software. Among the services in the package is oneSearch, which includes access to news, web images, financial information, weather conditions, Flickr, and Web and mobile Web sites, as well as navigation services. Users can enter the name of a business or the type of business they are looking for and it provides nearby listings with maps based on the user's location; users can click on a listing to get details including address, distance, cross streets, directions and phone number. The future trend of mobile usage in the country seems to move from inter-personal communication to providing value added services as a means to generate additional revenue.

"Location Based Services: A Status Report of South East Asia" "