Sarantel Consumer Survey Reveals Major Opportun...

LONDON, June 17 /PRNewswire/ --

    
    - 85% of Consumers Aware of LBS Would Either be Prepared to Pay More for
      an LBS-equipped Handset (34%) or Would Choose an LBS-enabled Handset
      Over One Without (50%)

    - Top Three Location Based Services Consumers Would Adopt are Locating
      Nearest Services (56%), Alerting the Emergency Services to Their
      Location (45%) and Finding Their Friends (17%)

    - 68% of LBS Users Perceive Current Performance in Terms of Accuracy,
      Speed and Urban Effectiveness to be Average at Best





    Sarantel (LSE: SLG), manufacturer of filtering antennas for mobile and 
wireless devices, today announces the results of a global survey
that polled consumers on their views, usage and future expectations in
relation to location based services on mobile handsets. Independent marketing
agency Ice Blue Sky (http://www.icebluesky.com) carried out the survey in
April and analysed the results on behalf of Sarantel. To view or download the
full complimentary report, please visit
http://sarantel.client-service.net/sarantel/download_form.php.



    The findings reveal that major commercial opportunities exist
for both handset manufacturers and service providers. An overwhelming
majority (85%) of consumers who are aware of LBS would either be prepared to
pay more for an LBS-equipped handset (34%) or would choose an LBS-enabled
handset over one without (50%). However, manufacturers and service providers
need to genuinely deliver services that consumers want and resolve concerns
relating to GPS performance, usability and pricing.



    Market education emerged as a fundamental issue that the
manufacturers and service providers need to address. According to the survey,
consumers were unfamiliar with the terms LBS and location based services
(36%), but most could name individual services. The survey indicated that
today LBS is nearly synonymous with navigation, a well-promoted service that
is readily available and easily understood.



    Beyond navigation, consumers have identified a wish list of
additional services that they would consider adopting: locating nearest
services, such as cash points (56%), alerting the emergency services to their
location (45%), finding their friends (17%) and being notified of events in
their area (15%). Service providers and retailers should note that the least
popular choice was receiving promotional information (10%).



    Another crucial finding is that overall handset performance is
average to poor according to 68% of the respondents who had experience with
it. On a scale of 1-5, where 1 is poor and 5 is high, 56% rated 'speed (time
to first fix)' at 1 or 2. Urban effectiveness fared marginally better with
51% receiving 1 or 2 ratings.



    According to Sarantel's CEO David Wither, Network operators
and handset manufacturers need to seriously consider the " implications of
marginal performance and the negative impact this can have on consumer
uptake. Average 'at best' is not good enough performance to enable a broad
range of LBS services which require, robust, reliable and near-perfect
positional accuracy to flourish commercially. Consumers have high
expectations for performance. If their expectations are met, the sky's the
limit."



    Sarantel LBS Pro antenna - enabling the next wave of location based
services



    The Sarantel LBS Pro antenna delivers positional accuracy and
performance suitable for hands-free pedestrian navigation, which consumers
expect. This accuracy is also fundamental to location based services that
will drive mobile operator revenues. The antenna is based on Sarantel's
PowerHelix filtering technology[1] and significantly outperforms traditional
antenna technologies in the following ways:


    
    - Better performance in urban environments with tall buildings, which
      typically impede satellite reception. Realistically, most mobile GPS
      consumers will be using their handsets in these environments.

    - Does not lose energy and de-tune when held close to the body. This
      means that mobile consumers can leave their phone in their pocket while
      listening to turn-by-turn instructions through their headsets,
      resulting in a more natural and safe 'hands free' user experience.

    - Requires a minimum of 10 per cent less GPS battery power so that
      consumers can practically use their phone for pedestrian navigation.





Essential for Mobile Network Operators

    Solving positional accuracy is pre-requisite to revenue-generating LBS
services that map to consumers' interests like social networking and non-
invasive, targeted mobile advertising.



About Sarantel

    Sarantel is a leader in the design of high-performance miniature antennas
for portable wireless applications including hand-held navigation, satellite
radio and laptop computers. Sarantel's revolutionary ceramic filtering
antennas offer dramatically improved performance over existing antenna
designs, resulting in a clearer signal, better range and a 90 per cent
reduction in the amount of signal radiation absorbed by the body.
Because of their smaller size and higher capabilities, Sarantel's antennas
enable manufacturers to create innovative high-volume consumer products
incorporating technologies such as GPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, GPRS, Satellite
Radio and Bluetooth. http://www.sarantel.com



For further information:

    Visit the Sarantel website at http://www.sarantel.com, e-mail
[e-mail] or visit Sarantel's new LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com)
forum.



    [1] More than 300 international patents have been filed to protect
Sarantel's PowerHelix filtering technology