| Location-based Services |
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Information AboutLocation-based Services |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LOCATION-BASED SERVICE | |
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Location-based services (LBS) (or '''LoCation Services''', '''LCS''') are services developed and distributed by wireless carriers and their partners which provide information specific to a location. The advantage is that mobile users don't have to manually specify ZIP codes or other location identifiers to use location-based services. Some examples of location-based services are:
For the carrier, location-based services provide value add by enabling services such as:
The service provider gets the location from a GPS chip built into the phone, or using Radiolocation and Trilateration based on the signal-strength of the closest cell-phone towers (for phones without GPS features). In the UK , networks do not use trilateration; LBS services use a single base station, with a 'radius' of inaccuracy, to determine a phone's location. With the passing of the Can Spam Act in 2005, it became illegal in the United States to send any message to the end user without the end user specifically opting-in. This put an additional challenge on LBS applications as far as 'carrier-centric' services were concerned. As a result, there has been a focus on user-centric location-based services and applications which give the user control of the experience, typically by opting in first via a website or mobile interface (such as SMS , mobile Web, and Java / BREW applications). In the U.S. the FCC requires that all carriers meet certain criteria for supporting location-based services (FCC 94-102). The mandate requires 95% of handsets to resolve within 300 meters for network-based tracking (e.g. triangulation) and 150 meters for handset-based tracking (e.g. GPS). This can be especially useful when dialing an Emergency Telephone Number - such as Enhanced 9-1-1 in North America , or 112 in Europe - so that the operator can dispatch emergency services such as Emergency Medical Services , Police or Firefighters to the correct location. Companies such as Rave Wireless in New York are using GPS and triangulation to enable college students to notify campus police when they are in trouble. One implication of this technology is that data about a subscriber's location and historical movements is owned and controlled by the network operator. Revelations that the U.S. government maintains a massive database of all domestic phone calls suggests that a permanent log of the location of every cell phone may be collected as well. LBS PRODUCTS AND COMPANIES
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