Revenues from LBS in Europe to reach €274-million in 2005

Revenues from mobile location-based services (LBS) in the European market have grown by 153% during 2005, according to a new report from the research firm Berg Insight. For the coming five years, the average annual growth rate is expected to be 83%. The market now is finally taking off as the expected shift in revenues from voice to non-voice services in the mobile industry can be noticed. Increasingly user friendly handsets paired with a more mature approach to content services create the right conditions for launching new offerings on the market. Navigation is an example of an attractive new mobile service that takes advantage of positioning technology. Operators such as Vodafone and TeliaSonera have recently introduced products which turn mobile phones into GPS navigators. Unlike other GPS navigation products they feature dynamic map information that is downloaded directly from the wireless network. The corporate market is also very important for LBS. A growing number of European businesses use asset, fleet and workforce management solutions in their daily operations. By tracking the position of employees, vehicles or other movable assets using mobile phones, managers can improve efficiency as well as maintain a higher level of security.

Contact Johan Fagerberg, Berg Insight, Tel +46 31 711-3091, johan.fagerberg@berginsight.com