After several months of delay caused by the crash of three satellites in late 2010, Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) finally started full-scale operations in December 2011. GLONASS has thus become the world’s second full-scale global navigation system after the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), and gained a serious advantage over the projected European and Chinese navigation systems on its way to becoming widely used across the world, some analysts said, while others noted that all global navigation systems are likely to complement each other, rather than compete. GLONASS is expected to promote the development of a number of industries and give the opportunity for a number of small and medium-size companies to grow, analysts said, adding that these companies may provide various services based on navigation technologies and produce GLONASS-supporting equipment.

Operations of GLONASS’ 24th satellite have begun, state-owned company Russian Space Systems spokesman Alexander Zubakhin said in December. Prior to the launch of the satellite’s operations, GLONASS was unable to provide global coverage. In order to cover the whole of Russia, the system, which currently comprises 31 satellites orbiting the Earth, requires 18 operational satellites.

The fact that global coverage has been reached has almost no impact on the competitiveness of GLONASS, said Igor Lissovoy, deputy executive director of GLONASS/GNSS Forum, a non-profit association of designers, manufacturers, and users of equipment and applications based on global navigation satellite systems. Before the start of the 24th satellite’s operations, there were no areas completely out of GLONASS coverage, as satellites are constantly orbiting; however the quality of signals from satellites might be worse at certain times in certain areas, mainly in subequatorial areas, Lissovoy said. The global coverage, reached by GLONASS in late 2011, gives the capability of fulfilling navigation tasks in every part of the Earth all the time, he added.

At present, all the technical problems that previously hindered the spread of GLONASS services, have been resolved, Alexei Smyatskikh, executive director of telematics and navigation solutions provider M2M telematics Group, noted.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly said that GLONASS needed to be commercialized and compete with the navigation systems of other countries. The Russian government, in particular, repeatedly said it planned to introduce high import duties on navigation equipment supporting GPS only. At present, only GPS fully operates alongside GLONASS, while the E.U. and China are only preparing for full-scale operations of their future Galileo and BeiDou positioning systems.

The availability of Russia’s own operational navigation system is a good impetus for the development of the country’s navigation service market, Smyatskikh said. The competitiveness of GLONASS is based on the high accuracy of the signal, the ability to receive uninterrupted navigation data, and the mass production of navigation equipment supporting Russian navigation technology, Smyatskikh said.

GLONASS is not just a matter of national security, but also a matter of national prestige, both experts said. “Navigation technologies are a modern industry, in which Russia has proved its competitiveness,” Smyatskikh noted.

GLONASS may be a source of revenue for everyone interested, Lissovoy from GLONASS/GNSS Forum said comparing the navigation system with computer technologies, which have provided additional opportunities for the development of various industries. The interface control document (ICD) of GLONASS, which is a base for the developers, is open and available on the Internet, he said.

Companies may generate revenue from GLONASS by either providing navigation services or producing navigation equipment, Lissovoy said. NIS GLONASS, which is the federal operator of GLONASS, is certainly also expected to generate revenue by providing services based on the navigation technologies, as well as other companies, Lissovoy said. The key field for GLONASS usage in Russia is currently the creation of transport monitoring systems, Lissovoy said, adding that there are also a dozen other fields in the country using GLONASS. “As for the U.S. and its GPS, there are more than 100 such fields,” he said, adding that the market for navigation technologies usage is huge.

GLONASS*tech-nologies create the necessary conditions for the development of small and medium-size businesses in the field of positioning and timing, Lissovoy said. As for the government, it is expected to return investments in GLONASS by receiving taxes from companies using this navigation system, he noted.

The number of GLONASS equipment producers and the number of companies developing and introducing GLONASS-based software and providing technical maintenance, is growing in Russia, Smyatskikh from M2M telematics Group said.

M2M telematics Group is one of the companies providing services based on navigation technologies. The company has been working actively on GLONASS commercialization by creating transport monitoring and control systems for government and municipal bodies, as well as commercial companies, Smyatskikh said, adding that the company is also developing socially oriented project called Social GLONASS aimed at ensuring people’s safety and improving their quality of life, among other projects.

Users are also interested in the possibility of working with more than one navigation system, Lissovoy from GLONASS/GNSS Forum said, adding that this improves the quality of equipment and reduces political risks related to the operator of a certain system. “Though it may sound strange, GLONASS is not a rival of GPS at least at the current stage of development,” he added.

The volume of production of GLONASS navigation receivers and equipment containing these receivers, has been rapidly growing in recent years, while the price of multiservice GLONASS/GPS equipment has been decreasing and is now comparable to that of equipment supporting GPS only, Smyatskikh from M2M telematics Group said.

Both Russian and foreign studies have clearly shown that the usage of GLONASS/GPS receivers gives significant advantages, Smyatskikh said, adding that “the global market is interested in GLONASS’ existence and development.”

A user gets obvious advantages when using high-quality multisystem navigation equipment, Lissovoy from GLONASS/GNSS Forum said, adding that modern multisystem equipment offers solutions supporting several positioning systems, including even those currently only being created. Meanwhile, three or more navigation systems used at once do not provide such a positive effect, Lissovoy noted, adding that when there are only two fully operating navigation systems in the world, GLONASS, has a significant advantage over the projected new positioning systems. “In several years this advantage may be lost, if the competitiveness of GLONASS is not further improved,” Lissovoy said, adding that in this event, GLONASS will fulfill military tasks only and will stop being attractive to civil consumers.

Smyatskikh from M2M telematics Group, however, said that the development of BeiDou, which was activated in test mode in late 2011, or the projected Galileo navigation system, bears no threat to GLONASS. When BeiDou is fully deployed, navigation equipment supporting all three systems is likely to appear, Smyatskikh said, adding that the “world’s navigation systems will complement each other, rather than compete with each other.”

The systems will certainly compete for consumers, Lissovoy from GLONASS/GNSS Forum, meanwhile, said. “This is why it is important to keep the current advantage and continue developing GLONASS,” he added.

GLONASS modules have already been introduced into mobile handsets of large manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung. “The emergence of GLONASS-supporting mobile handsets is not connected with the Russian authorities’ plans to introduce high import duties on GPS equipment, Lissovoy said, adding that this is rather tied to the advantages of multiservice equipment. Most users of mobile phones are located in places where positioning is more difficult, for instance in cities with high-rise buildings and a high level of signal interference, he said, adding that the advantages of multiservice navigation equipment can be evident in these places. Also, “GLONASS itself is quite an expensive brand,” he said. Taking into account that almost all large microchip producers have announced their plans to make equipment supporting GLONASS, one may expect an increase in the sales of multiservice equipment supporting GLONASS signals, Lissovoy said, adding that the Russian mobile handset market is large enough, which is understood by major cell phone producers, Lissovoy said.

Large manufacturers, which pay much attention to the quality of equipment and its maintenance, tend to introduce receivers supporting both GLONASS and GPS, Smyatskikh from M2M telematics Group agreed. “I think that none of the world’s leading producers would make GLONASS-based phones especially for Russia. This would not be economically feasible. In other words, GLONASS has won global recognition,” he added.