Siemens will be one of the first companies to bring a standardized solution for Assisted Global Positioning Systems (A-GPS) to the market: While current proprietary A-GPS systems work only with devices from specific manufacturers, the OMA standard will enable the positioning service to be used on any A-GPS-capable phone on any mobile network.

To determine a user’s precise location, traditional positioning technology based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) requires visual contact to special satellites circling the earth in geostationary orbits at an altitude of approximately 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles).

To determine the position, a locating device must receive the signals from at least three of these satellites. With a traditional GPS receiver it can sometimes take several minutes to collect all the satellite navigation data and compute the precise location. In addition, in areas with many tall buildings, the satellites’ signals are often so weak that GPS does not work reliably.

With A-GPS, the mobile device receives information about the satellites' orbit, frequencies and functionality over the wireless network. As a result, it can detect and analyze even weak satellite signals at lightning speed. The A-GPS technology uses the radio link between base station and mobile devices to transmit this "assisted" satellite data within a matter of seconds, thus saving time and battery power compared to traditional GPS systems. Even under difficult reception conditions, it takes the unit only a few seconds rather than minutes to display the correct coordinates.

Since Assisted GPS also works in enclosed spaces, it even makes mobile phone-guided virtual city and museum tours and other indoor applications possible. A user can also use his mobile phone to find his way from place to place in unfamiliar cities. And after car accidents, the A-GPS solution can quickly transmit the vehicle's precise location to an emergency dispatch center so that help reaches injured persons more quickly.