Atchik-Realtime offers operators chat, dating and blog services that are tailor-made mobile-community bundles. Location-based services (LBS) have made communities even more popular.

The LBS feature enables community members to find out the location of nearby chatters or potential dates. The positioning service is easy to use and does not require additional information, such as post codes. Instead, the network automatically provides the user's location.

Olivier Saget, head of marketing for Atchik-Realtime, says the result was even better than he had hoped for. "When we introduced our chat communities in early 2003, we soon saw there was a demand for combining these services with location awareness," he says. "But no one believed the increase in usage would be so big."

One European operator, with about 1.5 million community members, experienced a 25 percent increase in the use of its service when the LBS feature was introduced. Today, 70 percent of regular chat community members use the LBS service, which adds about EUR 1 to the operator's average revenue per user (ARPU) from the service. In total, chat community services increase ARPU by between EUR 6 and EUR 8.

Research shows that the LBS service is used in different ways by different consumer segments. Users aged 15 to 25 use it to meet new friends and chat, while users aged 25 to 35 mainly use it for dating.

To stimulate use and drive traffic Atchik-Realtime also provides community management services. "What we see is that without active management customers only stay in the community for a few months," Saget says. "So, in order to drive activity within the communities, we introduce contests, monitor the customers and more."

Atchik-Realtime's success story is one example of location-based services finally taking off. But there are more. A report from analyst firm Juniper Research predicts that the LBS market will grow from USD 1 billion this year to more than USD 8.5 billion in five years. The company says this growth will be driven by increased 2.5G and 3G network coverage, rapidly maturing positioning technology, evolving business models and improved user experience.

By Lars-Magnus Kihlström