According to a new report from telecoms research firm, Berg Insight, the market for LBS platforms and middleware in Europe will return to growth in the coming years, with demand driven by E112 and lawful intercept requirements as well as increasing adoption of A-GPS. Annual revenues in Europe for mobile location platforms, including A-GPS servers and middleware platforms, are projected to grow from about € 18 million in 2009 to € 35 million in 2015.
“Location-based services are finally on the verge of mainstream acceptance, enabled by broader adoption of GPS-enabled smartphones”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. “Mobile operators are now gradually responding by investing in location platforms and new technologies. Especially A-GPS servers and hybrid technologies will become very important as the installed base of GPS-enabled handsets is projected to surpass 400 million devices in 2014.”
In addition to supporting commercial services, mobile operators also face increasingly stricter requirements for emergency call location and lawful intercept. Improved emergency call and lawful intercept capabilities typically entail accurate location of any handset deployed and therefore require installation of network-based location technologies, says Berg.