Peter Girgis is Senior Product Manager (Wireless & Location) at Sensis

mo:life:
What is Sensis’ focus in the mobile environment?

Peter Girgis:
Sensis is all about connecting people, businesses and places and the growth of mobile technologies offers us some exciting opportunities to take this connection even further. We have been investing a lot of time and energy in the mobile environment so that we can deliver true value to our customers through applications that help them in their everyday lives. We see technology as one part of the equation, with the other being relevant and practical content.
To deliver Australian’s this quality information, we are currently focusing on three product areas - mobile search, location-based services, and vehicle navigation on mobile phones.

mo:life:
Can you give us an indication of the take-up rates of your wireless services? What feedback are you getting from clients - are people getting the idea, and more importantly, are people using the services?

Peter Girgis:
The take-up of our wireless services has been in line with the general take-up of WAP, which has been growing steadily. i-Mode is a good example of where we have seen better than average take-up.

With the imminent arrival of 3G services from most mobile carriers, we have seen renewed interest in WAP and wireless services and are really excited by the prospects of the wireless industry as a whole.

There is a lot of “wow” factor in mobile applications and they certainly create a lot of attention initially. Once that settles however, we generally see users return to our location based services. I think that the perceived costs are still causing some people to think twice, but this is slowly changing. The pieces of the wireless puzzle are coming together and Sensis is certainly poised to be a key player.

mo:life:
What is the main user demographic of your wireless services in Australia, and why do you think this is the case?

Peter Girgis:
With the wireless market still in its infancy, it is difficult to determine accurate user demographics. So what we have done is develop a core suite of capabilities and services that can be tailored to suit specific target markets, whether consumer or commercial.

For example, our i-Mode applications target the youth segment, which is the core market for i-Mode. In contrast, Whereis? Navigator, which we recently launched with the HP6515, is targeted at the professional and corporate segment.

We have excellent capabilities in location services, mapping systems, and handset delivery platforms, which we feel positions us to deliver services of value to the various target markets.

So rather than offer general applications, we build specific applications that meet the needs of a particular market. That way we can always be sure we are delivering the real value Australians are looking for when trying to connect to people, business and places.

mo:life:
Can you give us a example of a location-based service that you are excited by, and can you walk us through how it works?

Peter Girgis:
Absolutely! Let’s take Whereis Navigator. It provides wireless vehicle navigation for mobile phones and PDAs.

Whereis® Navigator is a wireless GPS navigation solution that delivers real-time, turn-by-turn directions throughout Australia using voice guidance, clear icons, maps and other points of interest. It helps you get where you need to go quickly and simply.

The key difference to other navigation systems is that we deliver the map data via GPRS or CDMA data communications to the mobile phone, giving the user the latest available map data each time they use it.

When you want to go somewhere, you simply start Whereis? Navigator, enter an address, verify the address with our servers and download a map of the entire journey via your GPRS connection. It will start to navigate you within a few seconds and continues to stream any remaining data in the background while you begin your journey.

mo:life:
There is a lot of buzz around mobile entertainment content at the moment, but location based services/applications seem to be quietly gaining strength and uptake. Can you give us an indication of the scope of the location-based services market in Australia compared to other countries? Is GPS implementation and usage the main difference? Or do cultural and geographic disparities determine/define success?

Peter Girgis:
Location based services have received a lot of attention in the last 12 months and their potential in Australia is greater than most countries because of our unique geography.

There are two key underlying technologies for location based services – GPS and A-GPS.

Traditional GPS is a highly standardised solution that is available around the world and powers almost every vehicle navigation product today. Australians have realised the value of vehicle navigation and are enjoying the benefits with strong growth in this market, comparable to the rest of the world. Japan is probably the exception and is much further ahead due to the concentration of its population and the technology available in vehicles.

Assisted GPS (A-GPS) uses the mobile network to position the location of the mobile phone. This technology is relatively new in Australia, and more advanced in Japan, North America and Europe. Sensis has developed services that use both GPS and A-GPS in Australia and believes the scope is enormous for new and exciting applications.

mo:life:
There are many independent producers making entertainment content for mobile, but who is making location based services?

Peter Girgis:
I checked the favourites in my browser and was surprised by the list of providers in Australia. I cannot name them all as there are so many. I am guessing I have around 25 listed and that is not the full list (if anyone wants a chat, I am happy to have a coffee and run through them!).

mo:life:
Where’s the money in location-based services? Development? IP? Subscription? Sales?

Peter Girgis:
Good question, and one to which the answer will surely change over time. In the more established navigation market, perpetual product sales are the major source of revenue. In the emerging market for location based services, organisations are implementing different models such as subscription and pay-per-use. Models based on advertising may be possible but user acceptance and greater take-up is required before these can be established.

There are companies developing their own IP, but I really don’t know the success of such models yet.

mo:life:
From your perspective, can you signpost the next five years in the mobile media sector?

Peter Girgis:
I think there will be strong growth in delivering video and audio content. I see this being a highly competitive area for the next three years while organisations fight for the mobile phone user’s time and attention.

Within five years, I believe location based services will not be stand-alone products and services. Rather they will become a part of almost all applications. Your mobile phone will re-configure itself automatically to display content relevant to your location. All your news, weather, audio, video and road conditions will change as you move around, so if you travel between destinations, the phone will re-configure your applications. For example, who wants weather for Sydney if you are in Darwin?

I think we’ll see definite growth in marketing and advertising activities via mobile phones. Material such as promotional offers and coupons will be delivered to your phone much like they come in the mail today – it will become a valuable tool for business to stay connected with its potential customers.