Seeker Wireless announces SeekerZone powers LocalZone Vodafone New Zealand service
Seeker Wireless has announced today that its SeekerZone™ solution has been deployed to power the new Local Zone product launched this week by Vodafone New Zealand.
What is it?
Basically this is a local zone (location based) service that encourages users to use the mobile phone more.
But unlike HomeZones in Europe which can offer up to 2km to 15km around the home – Seeker’s zone is small to avoid revenue leakage. This is not so great for the consumer, but better for the operator as the local zone coverage is tighter than existing Cell-ID systems.
From the press release:
“Operators have been impressed with how Seeker’s technology performed against existing Cell-ID based systems” said Dr Chris Drane, CEO of Seeker Wireless. “By locating callers much more accurately, Seeker’s solution can help reduce revenue leakage impacts that have dogged current Cell-ID based home zone systems. We are delighted that Vodafone New Zealand has chosen our solution to power their new Local Zone product.
Dr Drane concluded: “Location based technology is much more than just navigation and tracking. We believe that high accuracy location solutions should be an enabler to drive LBS revenues for operators from a number of different services that deliver tangible benefits to subscribers. Consumers do not really care about the convergence of technologies, what they really want is services that provide genuine convenience and value for money.
What we think?
If we focus on the technology a tighter homezone positioning service could be valuable for the operator. In Germany many home zones incorporate whole cities which really does make the phone more of a replacement to the fixed line. With this service only in or at home calling the phone then becomes a tool that is used more in the home –but I am not sure if it will replace the home fixed phone. The key issue is of course prices. If the calls within the very small home area were free – then it would work.
But what ever the price, the demand for local zone mobile services is there. More mobile data might also be used in the home if pricing was again free, flat or more transparent within the zone area. I suppose zones might or could also be sponsored in the future as business models evolve paving the way for greater new business models.
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