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Many peop|e do not
even wear wr|st watches
anymore s|nce the |oca|
ce|| tower/s|te w||| g|ve
them the current t|me
w|th out the extra we|ght
and hass|e. Locat|on
based serv|ces cou|d be
the next |eve| |n the way
mob||e phones change how peop|e ||ve the|r
||ves. lnstead o mere|y enab||ng the "when" o
your day, mob||e phones cou|d start enab||ng
the "where" o your day as we||.
ln th|s area, there are two types o compet|tors
or the aud|ence o |ocat|on based serv|ces
on-deck and o-deck prov|ders. On-deck
prov|ders are those app||cat|ons and approved
vendors that w|re|ess prov|ders se|| d|rect|y to
the|r customer as part o the|r "wa||ed garden"
content strateg|es. O-deck prov|ders are those
prov|ders who are extend|ng the|r reach rom
ex|st|ng d|str|but|on channe|s, web or br|ck and
mortar, to the mob||e space us|ng the mob||e
connect|v|ty ava||ab|e on most mob||e phones.
Drivers
Both |eve|s o prov|der want to prevent
the|r products and serv|ces rom becom|ng
commod|t|zed and are |ook|ng or ways to
pos|t|on the|r products and serv|ces |n a va|ue-
added ash|on. W|re|ess prov|ders, v|a on-deck
prov|ders, are |ook|ng to prevent the|r serv|ces
rom becom|ng the dumb-p|pe or other
serv|ce prov|ders.
ln add|t|on to the|r product and serv|ce
pos|t|on|ng, w|re|ess prov|ders are a|ways
|ook|ng or new ways to generate revenues.
W|th the dec||ne o vo|ce revenues and the
re|at|ve|y mature nature o SMS/MMS revenue
streams, the non-messag|ng data revenues
oer an opportun|ty or growth. For examp|e
|n Europe, \odaphone |s exper|enc|ng
approx|mate|y 40% annua| growth |n th|s area.
ln the n|ted States, Spr|nt and \er|zon are
dr|v|ng around $8 o average revenue per user
(APP) |n data serv|ces.
O-deck prov|ders are |ook|ng to extend the|r
brand away rom the "hard connect|ons" o
the lnternet and to || the needs o the "What l
want. When l want |t" consumer. Th|s menta||ty,
somet|mes reerred to as "Wee-Wee" or short,
comes rom the expectat|ons o consumers to
get the content or |normat|on that they want,
where and when they want |t. "Wee-Wee"
began w|th the open nature o the lnternet
and has expanded w|th the |ncreas|ng speed
o connect|v|ty and the range at wh|ch those
connect|ons cont|nue to spread rom "hard
connect|ons" to the lnternet.
Where are you?
ln the mode o "o|d-schoo|" |ocat|on based
serv|ces, my s|ster-|n-|aw and her husband
have an |nterest|ng way o keep|ng track o
the|r k|ds. The ather w||| st|ck h|s head out
the door and WHlSTLE. W|th|n a prescr|bed
amount o t|me | my n|ece and nephews
are not s|tt|ng at the d|nner tab|e, they have
"|ssues". ln my ne|ghborhood, desp|te my |ack
o wh|st||ng sk|||s, l doubt that any k|ds wou|d
be ab|e to hear, |et a|one be |nterested |n
answer|ng, a wh|st|e over the sound o trac,
tra|ns, etc.
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John Myers, ounder/pr|nc|pa| o the
B|ue Bua|o Group
3
W|re|ess prov|ders have a|ways "known"
where a part|cu|ar mob||e phone was |n
re|at|on to the|r ce|| network. However,
now w|th GPS serv|ce, w|re|ess prov|ders
can |ocate a handset w|th|n about 10-15
eet/3-5 meters. s|ng th|s concept,
many on-deck prov|ders have |atched
on to an a|ternat|ve to my s|ster-|n-|aw's
method or |ocat|ng her k|ds wh||e
so|v|ng my prob|ems assoc|ated w|th
a more suburban env|ronment. They
are prov|d|ng |ocat|on based serv|ces
d|rected at am|||es and ch||dren.
For a nom|na| ee, the mob||e prov|ders
w||| a||ow you as a parent to determ|ne
where you k|ds are us|ng GPS dr|ven
serv|ces or to a|ert you when a ch||d
moves outs|de o a predeterm|ned
geograph|c zone. ln the n|ted States,
D|sney Mob||e's var|ant o a ch||d
|ocat|on serv|ce has proven to be very
successu|. Many parents use the
|ocator serv|ce approx|mate|y 3-4 t|mes
a week or the $13 per month serv|ce.
Wh||e some on-deck prov|ders are
hav|ng good resu|ts w|th these
serv|ces, the |ack o a robust qua||ty
o serv|ce to many mob||e phones
makes the on-deck serv|ces somewhat
"h|t and m|ss" - part|cu|ar or the
assoc|ated month|y costs.
No matter where you go...
One o the more |nterest|ng |ocat|on
exper|ences that l ever had was
dr|v|ng around Boston. l was |ook|ng
or a spec|c |ocat|on near downtown.
However, desp|te my best eorts, l on|y
succeed |n mak|ng severa| |aps around
Boston |n genera| and the Boston
Common |n part|cu|ar. Th|s was due
to the "qua||ty" and "robust" nature o
my renta| car map and |nstruct|ons.
Over the years, web-based mapp|ng
and d|rect|on serv|ces have come to
my rescue and prevented me rom
wander|ng a|m|ess|y around many a
ma|or c|ty. However, l oten have to make
my arrangements |n advance to pr|nt
my map and d|rect|ons beore l |eave
the house.
O-deck prov|ders are us|ng s|tuat|ons
||ke my |aps around Boston as the|r
mot|vat|on to get that content to the
mob||e phone. Th|s |s a|| |n the eort
to u||| the "Wee-Wee" aspects o the
consumer. Consumers have come to
expect the ab|||ty to access content on
the|r terms. Those prov|ders who can
u||| these requ|rements w||| be v|ewed
as those "trusted partners" and those
who cannot w||| be v|ewed much as
the "br|ck and mortar" on|y reta||ers are
current|y v|ewed.
For examp|e, Mapquest has, or the
|ast coup|e o years, been po||sh|ng
the|r "Send to Ce||" oer|ng. "Send to
Ce||" a||ows you, or anyone or that
matter, to send d|rect|ons that you want
to your mob||e dev|ce. Th|s o-deck
content can be sent to standard SMS
enab|ed handsets or lnternet enab|ed
smart phones. Mapquest |s o||ow|ng
the gu|de||ne o mak|ng that content
ava||ab|e no matter what the w|re|ess
prov|der or |eve| o handset techno|ogy.
The |ssue w|th o-deck prov|ders
|s that they oten cannot ut|||ze the
"nat|ve" resources o the phone and
the mob||e network. However th|s
can be v|ewed as an advantage, or
non-negat|ve, by consumers s|nce
they are not pay|ng a prem|um or
these serv|ces and/or they have |ower
barr|ers to ex|t | they are d|ssat|sed
w|th the |ocat|on based serv|ces.
Putting it aII together
As w|th everyth|ng, pund|ts, ana|ysts and
|nvestors are a|| |ook|ng or the next "k|||er
app". ln terms o |ocat|on based serv|ces,
|t |s ent|re|y poss|b|e that ne|ther on-deck
nor o-deck prov|ders have the "r|ght"
so|ut|on. Th|s comes rom the act that
the use o on-deck and o-deck serv|ces
w||| vary not on|y by the prov|der, but
by the commun|ty o consumers. ln the
n|ted K|ngdom, mob||e users avor on-
deck content s|nce they have trad|t|ona||y
used the serv|ces oered by the|r mob||e
prov|der. Wh||e |n the n|ted States,
mob||e users avor o-deck content |n
a||gnment w|th the Amer|ca's |earned use
o the lnternet's open content v|a the|r
home computers
The k|||er app or |ocat|on based serv|ces
|s probab|y to ||nk on-deck and o-deck
content together w|th customer serv|ce
/ ca|| centers to prov|de. The most
v|s|b|e/adverst|sed examp|e |n the n|ted
States |s the OnStar serv|ce prov|ded by
Genera| Motors on the|r veh|c|es. s|ng
the GPS |n the veh|c|e and a mob||e
dev|ce to contact the OnStar ca|| center,
the te|emat|cs serv|ce can prov|de many
va|ue-added serv|ces assoc|ated w|th the
automob||e |n quest|on. ln Europe, En|ro
prov|des s|m||ar serv|ces re|at|ng more to
the persona| |normat|on serv|ce market
prov|d|ng access to d|rectory ass|stance
and other |normat|on serv|ces.
ln these two examp|es, the |ocat|on
based serv|ces are v|ewed as va|ue-
added and prov|de a |eve| o compet|t|ve
advantage to the organ|zat|ons
prov|d|ng them. They have d|erent
bus|ness mode|s and d|erent target
markets. However, both have |ntegrated,
and cont|nue to |mprove, the channe|s o
|ocat|on based serv|ces to promote not
on|y the revenue generat|ng act|v|t|es o
the organ|zat|on, but enab|e the "Wee-
Wee" menta||y o the consumer and ||
those needs.
Sources
"ser Contro| as an Opportun|ty," Jeremy
Lockhorn, C||ckZ, November 6, 2006.
http://www.c||ckz.com/showPage.
htm|?page~3623847
"F|ght|ng Commod|t|zat|on - Strateg|es or
Creat|ng Nove| Customer \a|ues," Kamran
Kashan|, October 2006.
http://www.bettermanagement.com/||brary/||brary.
aspx?|~14277
"\odaone Data p, Shares Down," Gabr|e|
Brown, nstrung lns|der, March 30, 2007.
http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_
|d~120842
"lDC: Spr|nt Nexte| rega|ns |ead |n data APP,"
Co||n G|bbs, PCP W|re|ess News, Apr|| 4, 2007.
http://rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.d||/
art|c|e?AlD~/20070404/FPEE/70404002/1008
"D|sney Mob||e oers peek |nto operat|ons,
asp|rat|ons," Ke||y H|||, PCP W|re|ess News, Apr||
6, 2007.
http://rcrnews.com/apps/pbcs.d||/
art|c|e?AlD~/20070406/FPEE/70406003
"Latency k|||s the mob||e exper|ence," Mob||e
ser Exper|ence, Apr|| 2007
http://www.mob||euserexper|ence.com/?p~384
"W||| Next K|||er App Be Mob||e?" Er|c Lundqu|st,
eWeek, March 29, 2007.
http://www.eweek.com/art|c|e2/
0%2C1895%2C2109740%2C00.asp
"M:Metr|cs Oers New Mob||e Web Measurement
Serv|ce," Fred Aun, C||ckZ, March 27, 2007.
http://c||ckz.com/showPage.htm|?page~3625359
John Mycrs is ihc foundcr/principaI of ihc BIuc BuffaIo Group, a icIccommunicaiions and |usincss inicIIigcncc anaIysis
firm. John Mycrs` anaIysis has |ccn inicrnaiionaIIy rccognizcd for his insighi |y individuaIs in ihc icIccom indusiry, |y
sofiwarc vcndors and ihc |usincss inicIIigcncc communiiy. His icIccommunicaiions |Iog is Iocaicd ai
hiip.//www.|-cyc-nciwork.com/|Iogs/mycrs/. John may |c coniacicd |y c-maiI ai John.Mycrs_BIucBuffaIoGroup.com.