A STUDY into location based services carried out by IDC and Trueposition shows that the majority of phone users only want mobile local search if it is free.

The survey covered three countries and found that 80 per cent of Spanish respondents, 70 per cent of US respondents and 60 per cent of Brits would subscribe to a service which provided local search if it were free. The report concludes, therefore, that mobile network operators can tap into this unsatisfied demand by offering such services which could then be funded by advertising.

The INQ remembers trying a local search facility offered by Orange. Instead of telling you were the nearest Barclays Bank was, for example, it simply highlighted all the cash machines in the area.

Brian Varano – a senior analyst with Truphone – says that location based services have come a long way since operators launched services just using Cell ID. Truphone has specialised in U-TDOA (Uplink Time Difference of Arrival) technology which offers greater accuracy. Plus several location technologies can be blended together – such as Assisted GPS (A-GPS) and U-TDOA.

Other examples of location based services which should prove desirable include people tracking. That's not just teenagers and recent offenders but the elderly too. In fact, keeping track of pets was almost as popular as looking after Granny.

Indeed, a sister company to Truposition – Zoombak, is planning to launch one of the world's smallest GPS transceivers. And one of its potential uses is to help locate animals.

Long time INQ readers may remember that five years ago Benefon launched a combined GPS and Phone aimed at owners of hunting dogs. So there is very definitely a market. µ