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LBS for Fleet Management - Status and Prospects in Serbia

Miloš Vojinović1, Željko Cvijetinović1, Dragan Mihajlović1, Nikola Kovačević2

1 Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade, Department for Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Belgrade, SERBIA, E-mail: milosv@grf.bg.ac.rs, zeljkoc@grf.bg.ac.rs, draganm@grf.bg.ac.rs

2 MapSoft d.o.o., Ustanička 64/VII, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, nikola@mapsoft.rs

Summary: Market for Location Based Services (LBS) has been growing on a daily basis and it has been regarded as one of

the most prosperous ones in telecommunication and IT businesses. Among dozens of location based services those dealing

with the fleet management are some of the most common ones. Paper reviews current status of these services and presents

estimates related to the future expansion and the development of this business in EU. The data have been taken from studies

prepared by relevant organizations dealing with the market surveys. Paper also contains statistical data demonstrating

potentials of Serbian market for these services. Data on providers of these services in Serbia are given, as well as estimates

on current percentage of vehicles in Serbia being included into LBS fleet management. Experiences gained through the

development of typical fleet management service by a Serbian service provider are presented. Current status of infrastructure

(telecommunication, Internet, GIS) required for the development of this business has been analyzed. Estimates and

expectations related to the impact of further development of certain LBS components (mobile devices, communication

network, positioning devices, service providers and applications, data and content providers) on improvement of these

services and on the increase of customers in Serbia are also given in the paper.

Keywords: Location Based Services, LBS, Fleet Management, Serbia

1. FLEET MANAGEMENT – LOCATION BASED SERVICE

Location Based Service (LBS) is wireless IP service that uses spatial (geographic) information to offer services to a mobile user. It is an application service that uses position of a mobile terminal (Open Geospatial Consortium – OGC, 2005) [1]. It is a technology that has been a subject of a great expansion. There are several tens of LBS use cases. Estimations of the revenue for the complete area of LBS on the world-wide market as well as per regions are given on Figure 1.

Figure 1: Projected LBS services revenue for all world markets (2009-2014) [2]

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE AND XXIV MEETING OF SERBIAN SURVEYORS ″″″″PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND EDUCATION

IN GEODESY AND RELATED FIELDS″″″″ 24-26, June 2011, Kladovo - ,,Djerdap“ upon Danube, Serbia.

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Out of many LBS categories (Figure 2) only a Fleet Management (FM) is to be considered within this paper. FM is a vehicle-based system that incorporates data logging, satellite positioning and data communication to a back office application.

Figure 2: LBS application categories

In this document we will consider FM systems (Figure 2) on commercial vehicles. Therefore, this study does not address the applicability of vehicles used for private purposes or in cases when the system is used primarily for protection against theft and the like.

2. CURRENT STATUS OF FM INFRASTRUCTURE IN SERBIA

Infrastructure of any LBS is comprised of the following components (Figure 3): Communication Network, Positioning, Service Provider, Content Provider and Mobile device. Current status of each of these components will be considered in the following sections. Only issues relevant for applications of these components in FM solutions will be treated.

Figure 3: The basic components of an LBS [7]

2.1. Communication Network

Having in mind nature and concept of FM services it is logical that Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) is the most important components of FM service. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is used as

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WWAN. All three providers (Telenor, Telekom Serbia and VIP) cover with their networks about 90% of the territory where 90% of the population is located. Maps of the signal coverage are given in Figure 4 and corresponding data are given in Table 1.

Figure 4: Maps of GSM and UMTS network signal coverage for Serbian operators [9]

Table 1: GSM network coverage for Serbian operators [8]

Name Telenor Telekom Serbia VIP

Ownership 100% Sonofon A/S

80% PE PTT Serbia, 20% OTE Greece

100% Mobilkom Austria

Number of employees 1211 1583 772

GSM signal territory coverage 85.20% 83,17% 74.56%

GSM signal population coverage 93.66% 88,17% 79.16%

UMTS network signal territory coverage 17,77% 46,66% 2.42%

UMTS network signal population coverage 53.14% 63.15% 25,83%

Number of base stations 2703 2041 1262

Internet is important for functioning of FM solution, but it also important for users’ access and utilization of the service. Statistic indicates (Figure 5) that almost all of the companies in Serbia use Internet, i.e. 95% of small and medium companies and 100% of large companies use Internet.

Quality of Internet connection is very important for considerations on possibilities of using FM solutions. Types of Internet connection used by small, medium and large companies in Serbia are given in Figure 6.

Information about the level of ERP solution utilization in Serbian companies given in Figure 6 (diagram on the right), can be very useful. It gives an idea about the level of utilization of informatics solutions in Serbian companies in general.

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Figure 5: Use of computer (left) and Internet (right) in small, medium and large companies in Serbia [10]

Figure 6: Types of Internet access (left) and use of ERP solutions (right) in Serbian companies [10]

2.2. Positioning

GPS method is the dominant method for positioning (Figure 7). Almost all implementations of FM solutions from all providers are based on this method of positioning.

Figure 7: Positioning methods, accuracy and applications (AGPS: Assisted GPS, AOA: Angle of arrival, TOA: Time of arrival, E-OTD: Enhanced observed time difference) [7]

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2.3. Mobile device

Different devices can be used for different LBS’s, i.e. for FM scenarios (Figure 8, left).

Figure 8: Different types of mobile devices used for FM applications (left), GPS/GPRS devices mostly used for FM scenarios in Serbia (right)

In FM solutions used in Serbia (Table 4) GPS/GPRS devices such as one marked with arrow on Figure 8 (right) are the most frequent ones. For some advanced FM scenarios, in addition to mobile devices, some additional equipment is installed in the vehicles such as: iButton, remote control, navigator, external display, etc. (Figure 8, right).

2.4. Content Provider

Major providers of maps, points of interest (POIs) and traffic products in Serbia are listed in Table 2. Their data and/or services are mostly used for FM applications in Serbia.

Table 2: Major providers of maps, points of interest (POIs) and traffic products in Serbia

Name of the basic service

Company Comment

Google maps [20] Google Level of detail for maps is up to the street level; large part of urban areas in Serbia is covered; POI’s are available covering similar territory as maps; there is a possibility of using geocoding and reverse geocoding services; no traffic data.

Bing maps [21] Microsoft Very few city maps; rather detailed orthophoto for the large part of Serbian territory; Bird's eye for the territory of city of Belgrade; no routing capabilities; very small number of POI’s.

Openstreet map [19]

Openstreetmap Foundation

City maps available only for a number of larger cities; no hybrid maps; routing capabilities limited due the data insufficiency; no traffic data for Serbian territory.

Teleatlas [18] TomTom International BV

Level of detail for maps is up to the street level; great deal of urban areas in Serbia is covered; POI’s are available covering similar territory as maps; there is a possibility of using geocoding and reverse geocoding services; no traffic data.

NAVTEQ [17] Nokia Corporation

Detailed maps for a large number of cities; routing capabilities; there is a possibility of using geocoding and reverse geocoding services.

MapsOf Serbia (Mape Srbije) [14]

MapSoft Maps for a large number of cities; very detailed city maps for certain territories of Serbia (up to the building level); orthophoto and hybrid maps for 40% of the territory; POI database for larger cities; services for reverse geocoding.

Plan plus [15] Contrast High quality POI database and maps for a large number of cities in Serbia; routing capabilities.

Business directory, traffic information and house numbers are very important for some FM applications. Providers and services that can be used for FM applications in Serbia are given in Table 3.

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Table 3: Providers of business directory, traffic information, house numbers, etc.

Name of the basic service

Company Comment

Yellow Pages [11] Yellow Pages – Belgrade

Business database contains over 200 000 useful information on economic operators on Serbian territory; access to database is free to anyone via free publication (catalog) and via Internet.

988info business directory [12]

Telekom Serbia

Business directory and phone book in printed form contain complete and reliable data on all customers of the fixed telephone network of the Telekom company; commercial advertisement, service information and special add-ins (city map for example).

AMSS [13] Automotive Union Serbia (Auto-moto savez Srbije)

Operational and information center, technical service for road assistance in case of accidents of vehicle failure in country and continental Europe; up-to-date information on traffic conditions in Serbia; no communication has been established with some global traffic information provider; traffic service that could be used in some FM scenario is not available

PAC (ZIP) codes and addresses [16]

PE PTT Serbia

Location of house number can be purchased; location of postal address code (PAC, sort of a ZIP code) can be purchased; reverse geocoding using location of house number; reverse geocoding using PAC location.

2.5. Service Provider

Fleet Management services have been present in Serbia for about 10 years. In the last few years more than 30 companies offering services in this LBS segment appeared on the Serbian market. These companies come from the following business sectors:

• Production of fiscal cache registers and GPRS modems – Galeb, Geneko, Certus... • Software development and GIS – MapSoft / Mobile Solutions, NTS, SCA... • Security – Anubis, Dobergard... • Telecommunication hardware, telematics – 2Con, Stevcevic Co…

Table 4: Leading Fleet Management services providers in Serbia

Name of FM system

Service provider

Short system description

AVL system Fox [22]

Geneko System provides automatic control of the device installed on the vehicle; navigation, voice communication and centralized car fleet management; system automatically sends warnings if vehicle exits specified path, if specified speed limit is exceeded, if motor has been started; information on fuel level, on engine rotation speed, battery level, information that installed car alarm has been activated, if vehicle door has been opened and on other events that can be defined by the customer.

Auto Track [23]

Certus / Lanus

System for satellite vehicle tracking using GPS or GPRS segments of mobile telephony network; system is based on Autotrack device; the device receives data from GPS satellite, data are transferred via mobile telephony network and stored into database; system provides vehicle tracking in real-time using maps; detailed analysis of vehicle movement is possible.

MobTrack:24 [5] [24]

MapSoft / Mobile Solutions

LBS system that belongs to the Fleet Management category of services; basic (position, speed, ignition lock) and additional telemetric parameters (fuel level/consumption, cargo area temperature, etc.) are available; system can be used for transportation optimization; works as an independent system, but it can be easily integrated into ERP (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, etc); system is used in more than 80 companies in Serbia (some of these are major Serbian and world brands).

NTS [25] NTS International

Fleet Management system that provides better organization, increase in productivity and lower maintenance costs; it provides complete solution which include hardware and software installation (not only NTS software), mobile telecommunication and IT services; system provides tracking, navigation, communication and telemetry.

Oris 08 [26] Galeb group System for remote vehicle location and tracking; it uses several different services such as GPS – for precise determination of position, GPRS – for data transfer, Internet – for visual display via Web or desktop application; in addition to basic parameters such as speed, movement direction and exact position, device also has capabilities of sending information regarding different conditions that it can detect – level of battery, detection of opening/closing vehicle doors and cargo area, on activation of panic button and also on activation of buttons specially defined by end user.

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A lot of companies have tried to enter this business sector, but after several years of stagnation they gave up offering these services. Currently, about fifteen companies offer solutions that can be considered as Fleet Management. Leading providers with short system description are listed in Table 4.

In addition to solutions listed above, there are some other systems on the Serbian market: Tera system by SCA company; ShadowNet by ShadowNet; Mix Telematics by Stevcevic Co; MGV GEO Locator by MGV Ltd.; Hunter by Hunter GPS; GET SET GPS by 2Con company; ProTracking by Satelit Tulip ID company; S-Kontrola by S-Kontrola company; ProGPS by ProGPS; SkyEye by Beo Sky company; Anubis GPS by Anubis company; Dobergard GPS by Dobergard company.

3. MARKET DEVELOPMENT TRENDS OF FLEET MANAGEMENT IN EU AND SERBIA

3.1. Market development trends in EU

In research reports the number of vehicles currently using FM systems, and forecasts trends for the next few years in EU have been presented ([3], [4]).

Table 5 shows the number of vehicles in the EU, which are used for commercial purposes. Out of this number, 27.4 million vehicles are owned by private companies and 1.4 million are owned by the public sector. Also, about 20% of light commercial vehicles and 5% of trucks that are registered to private individuals are used for commercial purposes. In total, there are 33.1 million vehicles.

Table 5: Number of vehicles in EU used in commercial purposes *

Light commercial

Trucks Buses Trailers Construction machinery

Tractors Total

19 900 000 6 800 000 700 000 2 500 000 2 000 000 3 000 000 32 400 000

Berg Insight [3] estimated that in 2010 nearly 30 000 European companies with more than 50 employees (over 12.5 percent of total) were using the technology for at least a part of their fleet. Predictions are that a similar number (percentage) of FM systems will be in use in smaller companies by the end of 2012. Current status and prognosis are shown in Figure 9 and Figure 10.

Figure 9: Number of Fleet Management units installed in EU (EU27+2, 2006-2012)

Expert analysis ([3],[4]) can be summarized as follows:

• The number of FM systems in active use is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 21.7 percent from 1.5 million units at the end of 2009 to 4.0 million by 2014;

• The penetration rate in the total population of non-privately owned commercial vehicles is estimated to increase from 5.5 percent in 2009 to 14.8 percent in 2014.

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2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Vehicles using

Fleet

management [%]

2 2.8 3.5 4.2 5.8 8.1 11.3

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Figure 10: Forecast of vehicles using Fleet Management in relation to the total number of vehicles used for commercial purposes

3.2. Market development trends in Serbia

There are no (or it is not possible to obtain such data) precise information on the number of vehicles in Serbia used for commercial purposes. It can be done if one start from the assumption that 80% of vehicles that are registered on the legal person or company (approximately 160 000), add 20% of light commercial vehicles (approximately 20 000) and the 5% trucks (approximately 4 500) that are registered to private individuals are used for commercial purposes (Table 6). So, we come to figures of approximately 185 000 vehicles that are used for commercial purposes.

Table 6: Number of registered vehicles in Serbia, year 2008 [6]

Passenger car

Special passenger

Transport car

Motorcycle Special transport

Working vehicle

Tractors Buses Total

Corporates 104 832 2 473 64 340 778 12 746 1 209 4 852 7 772 199 002 Private 1 381 776 11 101 74 991 31 025 11 423 381 2 535 785 1 514 017 Total 1 486 608 13 574 139 331 31 803 24 169 1 590 7 387 8 557 1 713 019

It is very difficult to obtain exact data on a number of vehicles using FM systems because almost none of service providers publish exact data in public (Table 4). Using names of companies that leading FM providers published in public as having signed contract with and guessing companies’ fleet sizes and also by using data acquired from some public tenders it can be estimated that somewhere from 8 000 to 10 000 vehicles is using some FM system currently.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Communication Network

GSM (GPRS exists on all locations where there is a GSM signal) and Internet networks are on such a level of development that most of FM application scenarios could be implemented.

For more advanced applications, for example real-time tracking where user wants to get high volume of data (video stream, for example), insufficient UMTS network coverage is limitation.

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Positioning

GPS is a method used for positioning in all FM applications in Serbia. Considering reliability of GPS as a service, it can be stated that this component completely meets requirements of the development and implementation for most FM scenarios.

Mobile device

GPS/GPRS devices are mostly used in implementations of FM scenarios. Various additional equipment is installed for more advanced scenarios. Devices from the world leading vendors, and also from some domestic ones that succeeded in surviving on the market, are used as components of current FM systems. Comparing these with other devices, such as mobile phones, it can be stated that devices for FM are produced in relatively small series (several thousands of devices by smaller vendor, and several hundreds of thousands devices per model by larger vendor). Considering the fact that certain time is required for a specific model to mature and to overcome all the child diseases, it can be stated that, besides technical capabilities, production quality, price and other characteristic, it is device reliability that proved to be as one of the most significant parameters affecting the quality of the whole FM system. Until a few years ago, there were devices on the market that providers were having serious problems with. In the last year or two these problems are less common.

Content Provider

Until a few years ago, this was certainly the worst component affecting the development and implementation of FM services. Lack of high quality maps, address systems data and other data limited the development of certain functionalities so that some of these were not developed at all and some were developed only to some extent. In the last year, quality of maps is increased (maps are the most important datasets for FM) and also quality of POI datasets is better. Insufficient quantity of data (address system data for example) or total lack of data (traffic data for example) prevents the development of some FM scenarios or these scenarios are so limited that FM is hardly usable.

Service Provider

In the last few years a large number of providers offered FM services on the Serbian market. A lot of these companies gave up after few years. However, new service providers are still emerging on the market. The trend can be noticed that companies that remained in the business are those dealing with the development of own software solutions. Possible explanation for this might be that it is possible for a service provider to stay in business only if the provider is able to adjust to customer requirements, and this is usually much easier if provider has its own development. Probably, these are the reasons why the greatest fluctuations are noticed for companies coming from security business. There were many of these companies that were trying to establish FM service, but none of these succeeded in becoming serious player on the market.

Solutions offered currently by service providers are in agreement with other LBS components. Therefore, advanced FM solutions that are currently available on the EU market cannot be found in Serbia.

Market

Expert analysis related for the EU market resulted in the following conclusions/predictions ([3],[4]):

• FM market in the EU has entered into a period of solid growth that will last for several years; • Given the current level it will take some time before the market reaches saturation point; • There is a general feeling of optimism in the industry, which is based on raising awareness about the

benefits of telematics issues; • While forecasts remain difficult to make, it is clear that 2010 will again be a very challenging year for

the industry, as the overall economy has not recovered completely yet; decision makers are still more likely to delay projects and require even shorter payback periods on capital investments; fortunately for the industry, there will however be an even stronger focus on cost efficiency and the companies that fare best in the hard times are likely going to be those that master advanced technology;

• It is expected in a future that when purchasing a new vehicle managers will require vehicles that can use FM capabilities.

Considering estimates on the number of vehicles using FM systems it can be calculated that penetration factor of FM in Serbia is about 5%. Taking into account these data, experience in selling these services, as well as the information that are received daily from the field, it can be stated that the situation on the market is very similar to the EU a few years ago (more exactly, in the mid of 2009), and the analysis and forecast are the same for EU and Serbia.

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According to all available data, FM service market in Serbia is promising, taking into account poor penetration of this technology so far and the opinion of many analysts of present awareness of the actual savings and drastically increased comfort of use. Commercially successful future of the service in Serbia is more than certain.

REFERENCES

[1] Open Geospatial Consortium, Glossary of Terms - Location Based Services (LBS), http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogc/glossary/l

[2] TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) http://www.telecomsys.com ; Location-Based Services: An End-to-

End Perspective, http://info.telecomsys.com/whitepaper/ [3] Berg Insight http://www.berginsight.com - Fleet Management and Wireless M2M – 5th Edition, March

2010, http://www.berginsight.com/ShowReport.aspx?m_m=3&id=98 [4] ABI Research http://www.abiresearch.com - Fleet Management Systems - Commercial Telematics Markets,

Applications, and Forecasts, Release Date: 1Q 2010. http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1003199-Fleet+Management+Systems

[5] Vojinović, M.; Cvijetinović, Ž.; Mitrović, M; Kovačević, N: The Development of Location Based Services

for Fleet Management, International Scientific Conference and XXIV Meeting Of Serbian Surveyors Professional Practice and Education and Geodesy and Related Fields, 24-26, June 2011, Kladovo - ,,Djerdap“ upon Danube, Serbia.

[6] Statistical office of the Republic of Serbia http://www.stat.gov.rs – Statistical Almanac of Serbia, in Serbian, http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/axd/godisnjak/celi/god2009.zip

[7] CartouCHe (Cartography for Swiss Higher Education) - Swiss Virtual Campus - Module "Location Based

Services" - http://www.e-cartouche.ch/content_reg/cartouche/LBSbasics/en/html/LBSBasicsU1_learningObject2.html

[8] Republic Agency for Electronic Communications - An Overview of Telecom Market in the Republic of

Serbia in 2009, Belgrade 2010. http://www.ratel.rs/upload/documents/Pregled_trzista/An%20Overview%20of%20Telecom%20Market%20in%20the%20Republic%20of%20Serbia%20in%202009.pdf

[9] Republic Agency for Electronic Communications www.ratel.rs, Mobile telecom networks and services in

2008, Belgrade 2010. - http://www.ratel.rs/upload/editor_files/File/Mobile%20_telecom_2008.pdf [10] Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, www.stat.gov.rs ,

http://webrzs.stat.gov.rs/WebSite/repository/documents/00/00/10/40/PrezICT2010.pdf [11] Yellow Pages http://www.yellowpages.rs/ [12] Telekom Serbia http://www.telekomsrbija.com/, Business directory, in Serbian - http://www.988info.rs [13] AMSS http://www.amss.org.rs/, Traffic information – road conditions in Serbia, in Serbian -

http://www.amss.org.rs/index.php?option=com_google&view=standard&id=4&Itemid=181 [14] MapSoft, www.mapsoft.rs , Mape Srbije http://mape.b92.net/ [15] Contrast, Plan plus - http://www.planplus.rs/ [16] PE PTT Telecommunications “Serbia”, www.posta.rs, PAC (ZIP) Codes and House Numbers – in Serbian,

http://www.posta.rs/struktura/lat/it/usluge%20GIS-a.asp [17] NAVTEQ http://www.navteq.com/ [18] TomTom, TeleAtlas http://licensing.tomtom.com/index.htm [19] OpenStreetMap www.openstreetmap.org [20] Google Maps http://maps.google.com/ [21] Bing Maps http://www.bing.com/maps/ [22] Avl Fox Geneko http://www.geneko.rs/products/fox_avl.htm\ [23] Auto Track http://www.certus.co.rs/ [24] MobTrack:24 www.mobilesolutions.rs [25] NTS http://www.nts-international.net/ [26] Oris-08 http://www.galeb.com/index.php?type=review&area=8&p=articles&id=296

Note: all web pages have been accessed on May, 10th

, 2011