NEW DELHI, INDIA: As the department of telecommunications (DoT) has issued a mandate to operators to adhere to location-based information up to the accuracy of 50 meters for subscribers by 2014, and to law-enforcement agencies by June 2012, the industry is yet to gain momentum.

During the LBS India 2012 event organized in New Delhi today, the stakeholders said that there are numerous challenges in the location-based services (LBS) segment in the country. However, some of the potentially common applications would be public transport, advertisements, navigation and public safety services.

S.C. Sharma, GM-VAS and TF, BSNL said that DoT mandate is right in forcing operators to initiate investments in LBS infrastructure. ''There is enormous potential for LBS in the country but there are few pain points in rural and semi-urban areas,'' he said. Sharma also said that availability of complete ecosystem is one of the key challenges.

A.K. Bhargava, executive director (Wireless Services) at MTNL believes that operators should collaborate in order to bring the cost of service down. ''It's imperative for the industry to share cost, while government should put up LBS infrastructure in place. LBS could prove to be a differentiator for operators,'' he added.

The private service providers are yet to come up with a full-fledged roadmap for LBS, albeit they offer few of these services under the VAS category. The state-owned BSNL has forayed in this segment in 2007 while MTNL introduced its services during 2009.

Rajan S. Mathews, director general of COAI, believes that there would be revenues but monetizing with customers is a roadblock. ''Looking at the volume, it's not easy for operators to make profits, while enterprise sector too is not geared up for it,'' he added.

C.S. Rao, president, Corporate Affairs and Regulatory at Reliance Communications that the industry needs to find right geographies, user group and enterprise to leverage LBS in the country.

Rao believes that there has been lot of transformation due to the emergence of smartphone devices, the growth rate for the adaptation of service is expected to be higher. ''LBS is a compelling necessity as we go along,'' he added.