In this interview, Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Dominique Bonte, Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation for ABI Research in London, England. ABI Research released a report (July 2008) stating that Location Based Platforms and Infrastructure Licensing Revenues would reach $2.2 billion by 2013, sizable growth from that of today which ABI estimates at only $111 Million. Francica spoke to Mr. Bonte to get more information on the LBS infrastructure market specifically.

Bonte speaks of the increased education about what LBS can done for consumers. Consumers are starting to understand the benefits of LBS which was stimulated by the popularity of navigation. With the availability of GPS handsets and handsets with very user friendly user interfaces, like with the iPhone, the market is poised to grow substantially. In addition,, the business models and application packages that are bundled together, like mobile social networking services with navigation, offers a much more relevant context and a more unifying framework that supports this growth. In addition, the emergence of new form factors and the availability of open development platforms is also fueling expansion in the market.

Bonte also provides a brief overview of how SUPL, the Secure User Plane Location protocol established by the Open Mobile Alliance came to be more widely adopted. But will the market become too fragmented due to competition between the carriers, mobile handset makers, automobile manufactures, and the application developers? Listen and find out more...

Companies and other information mentioned in this podcast:
Ericsson
TeleCommunications Systems
Polaris Wireless
Openwave
TruePosition
uLocate
Open Mobile Alliance
SUPL
loopt
GyPsii
Trimble Outdoors
Magellan
Garmin
UbiEst