Sarantel (LSE: SLG), manufacturer of filtering antennas for mobile and wireless devices, today announces the results of a global survey that polled consumers on their views, usage and future expectations in relation to location based services on mobile handsets.

LONDON, June 17--

 

- 85% of Consumers Aware of LBS Would Either be Prepared to Pay More for

an LBS-equipped Handset (34%) or Would Choose an LBS-enabled Handset

Over One Without (50%)



- Top Three Location Based Services Consumers Would Adopt are Locating

Nearest Services (56%), Alerting the Emergency Services to Their

Location (45%) and Finding Their Friends (17%)



- 68% of LBS Users Perceive Current Performance in Terms of Accuracy,

Speed and Urban Effectiveness to be Average at Best

  Independent marketing agency Ice Blue Sky (http://www.icebluesky.com) carried out the survey in April and analysed the results on behalf of Sarantel. To view or download the full complimentary report, please visit http://sarantel.client-service.net/sarantel/download_form.php.

The findings reveal that major commercial opportunities exist for both handset manufacturers and service providers. An overwhelming majority (85%) of consumers who are aware of LBS would either be prepared to pay more for an LBS-equipped handset (34%) or would choose an LBS-enabled handset over one without (50%). However, manufacturers and service providers need to genuinely deliver services that consumers want and resolve concerns relating to GPS performance, usability and pricing.

Market education emerged as a fundamental issue that the manufacturers and service providers need to address. According to the survey, consumers were unfamiliar with the terms LBS and location based services (36%), but most could name individual services. The survey indicated that today LBS is nearly synonymous with navigation, a well-promoted service that is readily available and easily understood.

Beyond navigation, consumers have identified a wish list of additional services that they would consider adopting: locating nearest services, such as cash points (56%), alerting the emergency services to their location (45%), finding their friends (17%) and being notified of events in their area (15%). Service providers and retailers should note that the least popular choice was receiving promotional information (10%).

Another crucial finding is that overall handset performance is average to poor according to 68% of the respondents who had experience with it. On a scale of 1-5, where 1 is poor and 5 is high, 56% rated 'speed (time to first fix)' at 1 or 2. Urban effectiveness fared marginally better with 51% receiving 1 or 2 ratings.

According to Sarantel's CEO David Wither, Network operators and handset manufacturers need to seriously consider the " implications of marginal performance and the negative impact this can have on consumer uptake. Average 'at best' is not good enough performance to enable a broad range of LBS services which require, robust, reliable and near-perfect positional accuracy to flourish commercially. Consumers have high expectations for performance. If their expectations are met, the sky's the limit."

Sarantel LBS Pro antenna - enabling the next wave of location based services

The Sarantel LBS Pro antenna delivers positional accuracy and performance suitable for hands-free pedestrian navigation, which consumers expect. This accuracy is also fundamental to location based services that will drive mobile operator revenues. The antenna is based on Sarantel's PowerHelix filtering technology[1] and significantly outperforms traditional antenna technologies in the following ways:

 

- Better performance in urban environments with tall buildings, which

typically impede satellite reception. Realistically, most mobile GPS

consumers will be using their handsets in these environments.



- Does not lose energy and de-tune when held close to the body. This

means that mobile consumers can leave their phone in their pocket while

listening to turn-by-turn instructions through their headsets,

resulting in a more natural and safe 'hands free' user experience.



- Requires a minimum of 10 per cent less GPS battery power so that

consumers can practically use their phone for pedestrian navigation.

Essential for Mobile Network Operators

Solving positional accuracy is pre-requisite to revenue-generating LBS services that map to consumers' interests like social networking and non- invasive, targeted mobile advertising.

About Sarantel