Indosat, Indonesia’s second-largest telecom operator, is bringing advanced location based services to its 29 million subscribers using Ericsson’s (NASDAQ:ERIC) technology. Subscribers will get location tailored content, enabling real-time traffic information, seeing where a family member is or receiving public safety information.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, with over 230 million people. The current total mobile subscriptions are at about 120 million, just above 50 percent penetration, and Indonesia is acquiring more than 17 million new subscribers every year.
Enhanced location based services add a user’s location to existing mobile applications, creating personalized services that meet user and enterprise demands for greater safety, efficiency and convenience. Businesses can use location based services to deploy service personnel more efficiently and improve fleet management. Fleet management applications typically entail tracking vehicles along their routes, while services that improve on convenience can include, for example, notification of a sale on men’s suits at a store close to the user’s proximity, when the user has nominated to receive such notifications.
Increasingly, location-based services are being used for location based advertisements and commerce. With this service, users can establish personal zones such as a home zone or work zone where special rates apply. The location based services can also be used for emergencies, where location based emergency applications pinpoint the user’s location and relays it to the appropriate authorities. They can also be used for tsunami and earthquake warnings.
Applications for enhanced location based services are already available for any handset – meaning Indosat can reach all its customers from the launch in October 2009. An example would be someone using their basic Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) based phone to search for a restaurant. The location based service application would interact with the Ericsson technology components to determine the user’s location and provide a list of restaurants within a certain proximity to the mobile user. An increasing number of handsets today even include support for a-GPS, which makes services accurate within 10 to 30 meters.
Guntur S. Siboro, Chief Marketing Officer, Indosat, says: “We are now adding another dimension to our services. With location based services our customers can save time, improve on safety and increase efficiency.”
Arun Bansal, President of Ericsson Indonesia, says: “Our solution is well established and we are pleased to now add the first customer in South East Asia. It is exciting to work with Indosat to launch innovative services to their 29 million subscribers.”
Source: Ericsson Press Release