Location-Based Services and the Central Office

Location-based services can scarcely be said to exist today within the wireless broadband
space. Essentially these require terminals that will announce their geographical position to the
base station, which will then consult a database with a profile of each user. Content such as
local advertising can then be pushed at the user or made available on demand. Ordinarily a
separate server would be required to support such services.
Location-based services have aroused the greatest interest in mobile networks where
localized information is often derived from Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, and
the mobile terminal itself contains a miniature positioning system. To date, these services are
virtually nonexistent in the United States, but they have been tested in Europe.
When broadband wireless networks acquire a full mobility component, they may begin to
offer location-based services, the assumption being that both technologies may mature at the
same rate. For the time being, such services remain speculative.