W-Locate Deploys Location Monitoring Service In China

Through the support of China’s Ministry of Education, Edusafety, a China-based organization dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of the country’s school children, is providing parents of four million children in Guangdong Province with a location-based monitoring service. Edusafety is deploying a SIM-based solution known as XimLoc, developed by Singapore-based telematics and location intelligence company, W-Locate. The service will be fully implemented by the end of November.

Location-based services (LBS) are mainstay features for mobile phone users, whether they are implemented to locate a place of business or a particular venue near a user or as a way to track other users. LBS work through the sensors that apps apply, which can be GPS, Wi-Fi or the closest cell tower to a mobile phone user; in some cases, apps use Bluetooth. The decision as to which type of sensor developers enable the app to use is based on the level of accuracy that is needed. It is important to note that in many cases apps working off GPS sensors can only provide a location if the user is outdoors and that they have high levels of consumption of battery life, memory and data because as the app is running it is also collecting data about the user.

As a SIM-based solution, W-Locate’s XimLoc uses cellular connectivity. It has been designed with geo-fencing capabilities, which allows parents to set a zone in which their children should be and receive an alert if the children are not within this zone at a specified time. Besides using less battery, memory and data, this solution can run on any mobile operator’s network via a smartphone or a feature phone. While mobile operators could lose data revenue with this solution, the cost of the service could be a viable revenue source for them if they were to offer it to their subscribers, as opposed for the third parties that are reaping the benefits of partnering with government entities to do this on a large-scale basis.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues or to speak with the research team: http://www.tarifica.com/contactus.aspx