The BeiDou Satellite Navigation and Positioning System (hereinafter referred to as the “BeiDou System”) is China’s independently developed navigation and positioning system. Since the BeiDou System began providing services to the Asia-Pacific region in 2012, the civil BeiDou industry has developed rapidly, with BeiDou industrial parks springing up everywhere. The BeiDou System has been widely applied in sectors such as border defense, transportation, fishing, meteorology, electricity, communications, disaster relief, forest fire prevention, and smart cities. As the BeiDou System continues to feature in news reports and consumer products such as “BeiDou Positioning and Navigation” devices and “BeiDou Timing Watches” are launched, the Chinese public's understanding of the BeiDou System has gradually deepened. However, according to relevant surveys, the vast majority of the public only understand the BeiDou System in terms of “positioning and navigation” and “timing,” with very little awareness of “BeiDou Short Message Service.”
The Awkward Reality of Personal Use of BeiDou Short Messages
“The BeiDou System has a short message communication function that GPS lacks,” and “The BeiDou System can not only solve the problem of ‘where I am’ but also ‘where you are’”—these are the most common descriptions of BeiDou Short Message Service heard among the Chinese public, and the following image has been repeatedly used by various media outlets when introducing it.
“Internet + BeiDou” – BeiDou HaiLiao
As BeiDou’s chief designer Sun Jiadong said, the application of BeiDou is only limited by imagination. BeiDou HaiLiao is an innovative application born from the integration of the internet and BeiDou. So, what new applications will emerge under the future “BeiDou+” model, and what kind of social and economic benefits will they bring? Let’s wait and see.