(LBS) Subscribers Will Total 315 Million

GPS-Enabled Location-Based Services (LBS) Subscribers Will Total 315
Million in Five Years, According to ABI Research

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In 2011, the total population of GPS-enabled
location-based services (LBS) subscribers will reach 315 million, up
from 12 million in 2006, according to a new study from ABI Research. Put
another way, that represents a rise from less than 0.5% of total
wireless subscribers today to more than 9% worldwide at the end of the
study’s 5-year forecast period.

“Regions of greatest growth will be North America and Western Europe,”
says senior analyst Ken Hyers. “The Asia-Pacific region will have strong
growth as well, but it will vary by market. Leaders South Korea and
Japan will continue to be engines of LBS growth, but North America,
which has seen strong business use for several years, is expected to see
significant consumer uptake in 2007 and beyond.”

The LBS market took off first in South Korea and Japan, driven by
personal navigation and some family- and people-finder services. In the
United States, Nextel and Sprint initially drove LBS adoption with a
focus on fleet applications. In 2006 Verizon Wireless also entered the
market and has three applications available currently, with as many as
five more planned for rollout over the coming months.

Market growth in Western Europe has been limited by the fact that very
few GSM/WCDMA handsets have GPS, but ABI Research expects that beginning
in 2007 and increasing in 2008, many more WCDMA 3G phones will contain
GPS chipsets, allowing operators to offer LBS. Anticipating this, at
least one additional operator will be offering GPS-enabled LBS in Europe
starting late in 2006. ABI Research expects that in 2007 at least four
major operators in Western Europe will follow suit.

“GPS services will drive the adoption of UMTS 3G handsets,” says Hyers.
“3G growth has been limited by customers’ low uptake of many 3G
services, making it uneconomical for operators to subsidize these
handsets heavily. GPS-enabled LBS is expected to lead subscribers to use
more 3G data services, and thereby to drive overall 3G handset sales.”

ABI Research’s new study, Location-Based Services
(http://www.abiresearch.com/products/market_research/LBS),