China's mobile location service market seen at 5.25 bln yuan in 2008 - report - Forbes.com

BEIJING (AFX) - China's mobile location-based services (LBS) market is set to grow more than 150 pct to a value of 5.25 bln yuan in 2008 as the country's motor vehicle drivers increasingly adopt the technology to obtain information on their location, the China Daily reported. Citing a report by Shanghai-based research firm iResearch, the newspaper said China's LBC market grew by 80 pct last year to 221 mln yuan. 'The LBS is still at the initial stage of development in terms of market value and subscription base, yet this market promises great potential for mobile operators,' the newspaper quoted iResearch as saying. Most LBS offerings in China are currently based on short messaging services that allow drivers to text questions to an operator. But in the coming years, voice and video services will be increasingly used to inform LBS subscribers of their location, the newspaper said. The popularity of mobile value-added services such as multimedia messaging and wireless application protocol are contributing to the appeal of LBS to Chinese consumers, the newspaper added. China Mobile and China Unicom regard LBS as an important emerging revenue stream, and have been rapidly expanding the service, the newspaper said. China Unicom launched mobile LBS in 114 cities across the country in December, the newspaper said, citing the Zhai Yibing, deputy general manager of the firm's mobile value-added service unit. China Unicom plans to cover 195 cities by the end of the first quarter, and increase the service to 300 cities soon after, the newspaper said, citing Zhai. (1 usd = 8.1 yuan) will.davies@xinhuafinance.com wd/dk