- Poor Accuracy in Location Technology is Costing Millions for FMS Operators -

London, November 6, 2007 - Seeker Wireless, the world’s leading zone detection technology provider, today announced the launch of a cannibalisation calculator and a detailed study to highlight the loss in revenues operators can suffer as a result of inaccurate location technology. Seeker Wireless worked closely with a number of mobile operators and a telecom pricing data provider to ensure that the analysis was an accurate reflection of Fixed Mobile Substitution (FMS) trends worldwide. The calculator and study are designed to help operators effectively plan their FMS solutions.

Saturated markets in developed countries and rapid expansion in developing countries have led a number of operators to turn to FMS to expand their markets and drive revenues, offering consumers a single mobile handset for use at home and while out and about. HomeZones have become a key component of many operator FMS strategies; offering mobile subscribers competitive tariffs based on their location. Most HomeZone solutions however, have been based on network Cell-ID technology and this has delivered poor accuracy and significant cannibalisation of revenue.

The Seeker Wireless study found that with Cell-ID, up to 30% of calls are incorrectly tariffed as “at home” when users are actually outside the vicinity of their home, compared to as little as 3% with an advanced zone detection solution. The result is massive revenue cannibalisation with Cell-ID systems. The cannibalisation calculator allows operators to study their subscriber data and business case by country and compare the financial implication of deploying different technologies for HomeZone solutions.

Carrie Pawsey, Senior Wireless Analyst at Ovum comments: "Our research also shows that without increased accuracy, operators could experience significant revenue cannibalisation with traditional HomeZone solutions. For FMS to be profitable, operators need the right technology to ensure an accurate service that delivers value and meets consumer expectations."

Dr Chris Drane, Chief Executive Officer at Seeker Wireless says: “The voice market is increasingly shifting from the traditional fixed-line towards a mobile future, and our study is further testament to our efforts to raise the bar on accuracy in location technology to make FMS truly profitable for operators. All too often operators considered accuracy to be the Achilles’ heel in location technology; our study quantifies the impact of using network Cell-ID and demonstrates that the technology now exists to make location a real business driver.”

SeekerZone™ developed by Seeker Wireless for the Fixed Mobile Substitution market has already been trialled by operators in EMEA and Asia Pacific and has been deployed in partnership with HP by one of the world’s leading mobile operator groups. The detailed study demonstrates that by using Seeker Wireless’s advanced zone detection system, operators are able to reduce zone size by up to 50 times and reduce cannibalisation of revenue by up to 90% compared to existing Cell-ID systems.