nearest gas station for drivers, nearest ATM in the vicinity, road route selection (navigation), and importantly emergency services to the subscribers. 3GPP, 3GPP2, OMA and IETF are actively involved to deliver timely standards. OMA provides protocols and interfaces that enable the exchange of location data between different networks. IETF on the other hand specify protocols for integrating location data with Internet or web based applications. 3GPP and 3GPP2 design specifications SO that the respective networks (GSM, UMTS, and CDMA2000) can be upgraded to support LBS. In general, mobile operators have to consider various aspects when offering LBS, including the network, positing technology, standardization, user acceptance, and the availability of attractive and cost effective applications. 9.12.3.1 Positioning Technologies The success of LBS depends on the technology used for positioning determination. Positioning technol- ogy for LBS may use satellite positioning, cellular positioning or indoor positioning like WiFi, RFID, and SO on [34,35]. The key technologies are as follows (Figure 9.25): Cell ID: Cell identification (CI) is the basic positioning method that can be used to offer LBS since all handsets support this technology. CI uses the network BTSs or NodeBs to identify the user in the cell area. CI provides positioning accuracies on the 500 m to 1 km level in urban areas and up to 35 km in rural areas [36,37]. Timing Advance: The TA is based on the existing Timing Advance (TA) parameter which is known for the serving BTS. To obtain TA values in case the MS is in idle mode a special call, not noticed by the GSM subscriber (no ringing tone), is set up. For the TA once the cell-ID and TA value has been returned to the MLC (described later), the MLC PCF should map this information into a standardized format suitable for the client. This may infer either just passing the received information in its current format Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem Cell ID E-OTD, OTDOA, U-TDOA 500m-20km 1.25-2 km 