Enabling mobile commerce through location based services

Abstract

The use of mobile telecommunications devices for commercial transactions, called mobile commerce (m-commerce), has been an emerging trend since the late 1990s. A killer application of m-commerce is Location Based Services (LBS). A host of new location-aware applications and services are emerging with significant implications for the future of m-commerce. The early stage infrastructure for enabling these services is just now reaching the commercialization stage. Strategic thinking in this area is rudimentary - there is not a clear understanding of issues associated with location services, such as business models. In this paper, we examine the technologies, applications, business models, and strategic issues associated with the commercialization of LBS, and give an outlook for future LBS development. © 2005 by International Federation for Information Processing.