Russia fights for 2nd place in satnav space

MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russia has secured Nokia's backing for its GLONASS satellite navigation system in a major step towards securing second spot behind GPS in the global positioning technology.

GLONASS, along with European space programme Galileo and China's COMPASS, are set to break over 20 years of unrivalled dominance of by Global Positioning System (GPS) as countries seek to cut their reliance on the U.S. technology.

The world's largest phone maker by volume, Nokia aims to release the first cellphone supporting GLONASS as well as GPS next year, the head of GLONASS operator NIS GLONASS told Reuters.

"It is possible that already by the end of next year most Nokia cellphones will be equipped with chipsets supporting both GLONASS and GPS, and we hope other vendors will follow," Alexander Gurko, chief executive of NIS GLONASS, said in an interview.

He said a dozen global chipmakers, including Qualcomm Inc, Broadcom Corp and STMicroelectronics, are already developing GLONASS/GPS chipsets, leading to greater penetration of the technology in consumer markets.

Gurko said GLONASS aimed to supplement GPS in mobile phones and car navigations systems rather than replace the U.S. technology which is the only fully operational global positioning system in the world.

"We are not competing with GPS as we offer dual-technology devices. We are rather competing for the second place as Galileo and Compass will enter the market in coming years. This is why we have to expand outside Russia within the next three-four years."

"The competition is unfolding for big markets such as India, in first place, and Latin America," Gurko said, adding NIS GLONASS has already launched pilot projects in Egypt, Qatar, Venezuela and Cuba.

Russia has put 27 GLONASS Satellites into orbit

Russia has put 27 GLONASS satellites into orbit and plans to have a total of 30, including six reserve satellites, to deliver full global coverage.

The Galileo project will put 24 satellites into orbit, with the first being operational in 2014, while COMPASS's grouping of 35 satellites will offer global navigation by 2020.

"Clearly, once they have partly formed the grouping, they will start to promote their technologies and this is where the Chinese are in a better position than us and the Europeans because they have a huge domestic market, a developed microelectronics industry and a worldwide supply chain," Gurko said.

"It is difficult for them to develop the satellite grouping itself as they lack technologies, competencies, but once they overcome this barrier, promotion of COMPASS-enabled products will be very active."

Russia's top space official said in April that Russia's space budget was not big enough to finance breakthrough projects and warned that China might gain a lead in the industry, months after three GLONASS satellites crashed into the Pacific Ocean after a failed launch in December.

Russia has spent 140 billion roubles ($5 billion) on GLONASS since 2002. The next programme through to 2020 is due to be approved by the end of August.

BREEDING GROUND

NIS GLONASS is already implementing several state projects in Russia, including a programme similar to the EU's eCall emergency driver assistance system as well as equipping heavy trucks and buses with tachographs.

But consumer markets are a more challenging ground.

"We need to create a breeding ground around us to stimulate development. There must be dozens of thousands of companies developing applications with GLONASS/GPS. We expect that by 2020 ... global penetration of GLONASS will exceed 5-10 percent."

He also said he favoured a phased introduction of import taxes on cellphones without GLONASS to help the nascent technology.

Russian officials earlier said an import tax of up to 25 percent would be introduced in 2012 as part of efforts to encourage worldwide adoption of the technology.

NIS GLONASS is a joint venture between Russian state company Russian Space Systems and oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Sistema