Similar to aggregators in the messaging industry, LOC-AID wants to be an aggregator for the LBS industry. The company, which has been in the LBS business for about 16 years, is introducing a carrier-class aggregation platform for location-based services information.

Specifically, LOC-AID is offering operators the ability to manage their location data and work with developers more effectively.

The LOC-AID platform is comprised of the Xchange Gateway and Portal. The Xchange Gateway interconnects messaging and network geo-elements and manages location data from any carrier network, while the LOC-AID portal makes that information available – and relevant – to developers as a set of GUI APIs. The combination of the two enables LOC-AID to effectively “wholesale” location information in a precise and secure manner, according to the company.

LOC-AID’s solution is built around the idea that carriers need an end-to-end solution, similar to what they get from messaging aggregators, said CEO Isaias Sudit.

For LOC-AID, it doesn’t matter if a carrier uses A-GPS or a network-based solution; its solution is equally valuable for CDMA and GSM-based carriers, he said. But the market is extremely fragmented in the sense that the details of each carrier’s location system, even those that commonly use CDMA, are so different that it takes a great deal of effort to translate them. That’s what LOC-AID is proposing to do for operators and developers – decode those specifics that vary from operator to operator, according to Sudit.

Sudit said while LOC-AID appears to be the only one in this space at the moment, he would not be surprised to see two or three by the second half of next year.

For the last eight years or so, people in the industry have been wondering: Is this the year for LBS? Sudit said he’s not sure 2009 will be the year for location, but he expects it will be a big year for it.