70% of telecommunication companies cite location intelligence as a key factor affecting their success, reports Dresner Advisory Services’ 2018 Location Intelligence Market Study. This is not surprising considering the wide geographical spread of their business, which poses challenges related to network expansion, capacity planning, identification of potential customers, and cost-effective servicing of existing customers.
Additionally, geographic information of connected devices allows telecommunication companies to offer context-based services to other industries like banking, retail, entertainment, travel etc. This sets the stage for brands to use location-based services (LBS) to target the right customers at the right time, and at the right place. And, by providing brands with this arsenal of information, telecommunication companies can open additional revenue streams.
We now live in an era where smartphones are an integral part of our lives, dictating how we shop, bank, travel, and live. Combine this with the current trends of personalization and hyper-local marketing, you’ll quickly realize how LBS is the perfect means to provide contextualized, super-targeted, and effective messaging to a brand’s audience. Contextualization through LBS also captures and retains the attention of the constantly distracted and demanding consumer by providing relevant information that they can act upon immediately. A Nielsen study revealed that ‘70% of mobile searchers expected businesses in search results to be within five miles of their location.’
LBS, if harnessed efficiently offers benefits to organizations and consumers alike.
Consumers today demand relevancy and personalization, which has resulted in unprecedented growth in LBS applications. Traffic updates, weather forecast, warnings regarding spread of allergens and pathogens, assistance during emergencies, travel apps, promotional offers from near-by retail outlets, apps for locating friends and family, gaming (e.g. Pokémon Go), are just a few applications of LBS that benefit consumers.
While the benefits of LBS are not lost on consumers, their concerns related to breach of privacy, data hacks, data leakage, and unauthorized data collection, makes them wary of sharing their location data.
The ‘Privacy and Location Data Global Consumers Study’ by HERE Technologies found that “about 80% of the consumers don’t trust the services collecting their location data.” However, “66-68% would grant access if they knew why their data is needed, what it is used for, that it is protected, stored safely or systematically deleted.”
Hence, stronger laws, greater transparency, and more control over their data would encourage consumers to share their location to avail beneficial services.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) addresses several data privacy and usage concerns. It is perhaps the strongest set of regulations governing the digital age. It grants consumers several rights with respect to how their data is collected, stored, and used by organizations. Governments across the globe would do well to follow its lead.
What’s in store
LBS has immense potential for telecommunication companies to increase revenues, enhance user-experience and subsequently customer loyalty. But, these are only possible if there is trust. A strong commitment to collecting, using, and protecting the data shared by customers in an ethical and transparent manner will go a long way in eliciting trust. Once credibility has been established, the opportunities for LBS are endless. And, having the right technology partner can help telecommunication companies effectively exploit these opportunities. CSS Corp’s geospatial solutions for the telecom industry are based on our deep understanding and experience in the industry. Hence, we can develop unique solutions for wireless, wireline, and other infrastructure systems, which cover network design, fiber management, project management, maintenance, and customer support.
References
ORGANISATIONS’ by Consumers International