LOCATION & NAVIGATION: Exploring New Business Opportunities, Partners & Applications

Navigation. Fleet Monitoring. Asset Tracking. Resource Management. Mobile Advertising. Emergency Services. Mobile Search. Location-based services is a promising business opportunity, offering new revenue source for mobile carriers, GPS operators, content owners, service providers, Internet portals, telematics companies, device makers and LBS VAS application developers. With the ability to pinpoint geographical location in relation to fixed and mobile assets, GPS and LBS based applications can be created for, and are in great demand by governments, businesses, carriers, device/handset manufacturers and consumers. The possible uses of GPS and location based services are only limited to one's imagination making it one of the most important niche wireless data applications to evolve.

According to CCID Consulting, there are over 1,000 GPS operators nationwide today. Meanwhile In-Stat has stated location-based services (LBS), are at the starting block in China. With viable business models, industry value chain and markets rapidly building, the future looks bright for GPS and LBS. Nationwide there are currently 627 million mobile subscribers. They are potential customers looking for the convenience LBS and GPS services provide. What's more, China's rapidly growing fleet of more than 168 million commercial and private vehicles in the country also contributes to the overall sales prospects for in-built and aftermarket GPS navigation devices. GPS is also finding its’ way into intelligent transportation systems, agriculture and fisheries, mining and construction, energy, public safety, emergency services and other compelling applications.

The upcoming China LBS/GPS Forum is a timely occasion for dialogue, learning and collaboration to advance location based services development and adoption. China’s budding GPS and LBS development community along with leading providers of end to end solutions, geospatial software/systems, platforms, development tool kits, mapping/tracking engines, GPS silicon, handset/devices, service gateways and smart location technologies are coming together at this Forum. Hosted by the Radio Regulatory Bureau, Ministry of Industry & Information Technology, the Forum features an educational program designed to cater to the information needs of newcomers as well as current experienced location based and global positioning players. There will be interesting presentations, panel discussions and technical seminars featuring industry experts and case studies by pioneers. Topics to be addressed are divided into the categories of Market; Application Development; Service Deployment; Business Opportunities; and Technology.

China is emerging as a major market for LBS and GPS services. Be among those who profit from the growth!

> China is destined to become the world’s largest market for GPS as more personal users come on line and automobiles are equipped with on-board navigation systems. According to market researcher CCID, there are a 1,000 GPS operators in the country with 1 million vehicles in the network. In the next three years, China's market capacity of electronic GPS maps used in vehicles may exceed 10 billion yuan (1.25 billion U.S. dollars).

> With over half a billion mobile subscribers nationwide, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom are betting on location based services and GPS based navigation service for new revenue streams. Market researcher iResearch expects the mobile LBS and GPS navigation business which is only starting to realize its full potential will hit 5.25 billion yuan by 2008.

The China LBS/GPS Forum will update you on the latest news from these market sectors as well as give you the opportunity to add your view on what is needed to tap into the potential. Register today!