This week Boca Raton, Fla.-based Loc-Aid is lifting the cover off of a two-year project that aims to aggregate location-based data from carriers and resell it to developers. Isaias Sudit, Loc-Aid’s CEO said by being the middleman, developers will be able to add location-based services more easily to their applications, and the carriers won’t have to manage the increasing number of developers, who are interested in tapping into the data. He argues without an intermediary, it’s nearly impossible for either parties to make money. Because Loc-Aid first went into business in 2004 to make location-based apps, Sudit can speak from experience when he says: “The way the developers are accessing location right now, there’s no way they are going to be successful.” Loc-Aid differentiates itself by being able to track any phone, not just phones that have GPS or other technologies. It also offers developers a pay per transaction, or a monthly subscription fee, and a framework to ensure the end users’ privacy. Sudit said the company is just launching in Canada and Mexico, and is expected to launch in the U.S. with the top three carriers in the next 60 to 90 days. “This is two years in the making, and we are very well along with the negotiations with the carriers.” 

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To be sure, location-based services are quickly becoming one of the must-have features in mobile applications, and is used to find friends, look up nearby businesses, find driving directions and even to deliver a well-targeted ad. However, GPS and other forms of location technologies can be costly and time-intensive to provide. In most circumstances, developers must negotiate directly with each carrier, and then also pay substantial fees. Carriers can also find it costly on their end. Undoubtedly, there will likely be a number of players that will try to unlock the bottleneck, but the carriers will probably only play ball with a few chosen.

Besides Loc-Aid, another company making moves today is Skyhook Wireless. In an announcement, it said it formed a partnership with Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), which develops GPS technology. Skyhook has a radically different approach than Loc-Aid, and acts independently of the carrier’s network, by locating phones by finding nearby Wi-Fi hotspots. Its claim to fame is providing location information to the iPhone. Through the partnership, Qualcomm will be able to distribute Skyhook’s Wi-Fi services and plans to incorporate the company’s technology into its GPS technology. Together, the two companies will be able to provide hybrid Wi-Fi/GPS solutions. Release.