Enhancing smartphone location accuracy in emerging markets with location data-as-a-service

GPS infrastructure and signal propagation issues can now be overcome economically in emerging markets to support the growth of smartphone adoption.

Emerging markets for smartphone technology—such as those in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand—lack access to satellite data and other infrastructure to enable pinpoint location accuracy for use cases such as ride hailing and ride-sharing.

With much of the growth of mobile internet users forecast to be from emerging digital markets in Asia Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Latin America, one provider of smart devices and mobile services for global emerging markets has turned to a ‘location data platform’ to bridge the gap in infrastructure.

Robin Wang, Assistant President, Transsion, a technology firm with a focus on global emerging markets: “For ride-hailing services, being able to identify the exact location for pick-ups and drop-offs makes a huge difference in improving user experience.”

By deploying a ‘network positioning’ solution from HERE Technologies, Transsion will be able to obtain accurate positioning of its smart devices both indoors and outdoors. This works especially when Global Positioning System satellite signals are not available, such as when the device is located indoor or the GPS signals are blocked by objects.

Besides offering more accurate position data, the location data platform offers Transsion a range of other useful data such as more accurate calculations of estimated times of arrivals (ETA), as well as precise pick-up and drop-off locations in spite of the presence of buildings, trees, tunnels, bridges and atmospheric conditions that can impact positioning data accuracy.

According to Sammie Xi, Director and Head of Business (Greater China), HERE Technologies: “We’ve seen how the pandemic has profoundly impacted our lives, economies, and the global digital landscape. We are immensely proud to support Transsion in providing a more inclusive connected world for consumers.”