Device proliferation, the increasing pace and complexity of technology change, and real-time country-specific challenges were some of the issues brought up by Sinno. Widespread uncertainty among telcos surrounding the wireless business models is also a contributing factor to the hype and misconceptions.

Adrian Lee, director for product management at Lycos Asia agreed, noting that “a mobile user's position is a constantly changing parameter” which needs to be resolved by a network operator before any LBS venture can succeed.

Services such as safety and emergency services, value added information (such as news, weather & traffic information), billing and location tracking services were the high demand examples used by Lee during his conference session.

However, in order to deliver such services in real-time, telcos need to look to establishing sufficient accuracy and speed, a data tranmission capability, security, roaming ability and other conditions before any benefit can be reaped.

While network operators are still reeling from the backlash of WAP and analysts expressing skepticism for the much-touted GPRS and 3G services, the case of NTT DoCoMo serves as a real-life example of success. Wesbraska Technologies’ Sinno pointed out that its open platform model demonstrates how the wireless Internet should be delivered.

“It is the challenges that create the value opportunities… (and) the winners will be those who address them worldwide”, concluded Sinno.

Do you think location-based services will take off in a big way? Let me know your views via email.