Hutchison 3G, the greenfield UMTS operator, has announced it will use a platform from British developer Whereonearth for its location-based services. The operator also announced agreements with several other service and technology providers, including Ordanance Survey, Tele Atlas, Ionic and TCS.
Whereonearth’s L-Sphere platform processes location data and facilitates services such as ‘where is my nearest?’, ‘how do I get to?’ and ‘what’s in the surrounding area?’. It will be combined in the UK with detailed information from Ordanance Survey and in the UK and Europe with data provided by Tele Atlas. Whereonearth is working with Telcontar to provide professional services and integration at Hutchison’s network operations centre.
The agreements underline the importance Hutchison is placing on location-based services for its 3G launch. As with many other features of the Hutchison network, they will be tested in the UK before being rolled out to other Hutchison territories.
Colin Tucker, managing director of Hutchison 3G commented: “We are creating a service that knows where you are, what you want and how you want it – and puts it in the palm of your hand. Over time this will become an absolutely indispensable component of daily life for all of us. The scale and scope of technical integration taking place behind the scenes is unprecedented in the industry. We are delighted to be working with the leading providers in this area to develop these unique and exciting services for 3’s customers.”
Dev Patel, COO of Whereonearth, said: “I am delighted to be working with Hutchison 3G and Telcontar to help shape the future of high-speed wireless services. Our experience in providing high performance internet based LBS solutions has helped us to deliver an innovative and robust LBS capability to Hutchison 3G. I am delighted that we have successfully won this business and I am excited about the location based services that Hutchison 3G are planning with our software in this new world of 3G wireless.”