Table of Contents

• Current status and background of GNSS receiver rentals

• Common issues with GNSS receiver rentals

• Concerns about positioning accuracy and reliability

• Burden of equipment handling and support

• Accumulating costs and hidden burdens

• Failure risks and maintenance uncertainties

• Cost comparison of rental, subscription, and in-house purchase for long-term use

• Is rental optimal for short-term projects? Considering cost efficiency

• Differences in deployment speed and on-site responsiveness

• Usability and training cost perspective

• On-site efficiency improvements enabled by cloud integration

• Reasons to consider alternatives to rental

• Benefits of simple positioning introduction with LRTK

Current status and background of GNSS receiver rentals

In recent years, demand for GNSS receivers (global navigation satellite system receivers) has been increasing at construction and surveying sites. Traditionally, large, expensive equipment handled by specialized surveying teams was the norm and not something general construction sites could easily use. However, initiatives such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s *i-Construction* and the industry’s push toward digitalization have expanded the need for high-precision positioning even among small contractors and rural sites. Requests such as “we want to perform high-precision positioning efficiently with a small crew” and “we want to use digital devices to compensate for labor shortages” have increased, and more companies are showing interest in introducing GNSS surveying equipment.

Against this backdrop, renting GNSS receivers has attracted attention as a way to try the latest equipment while keeping initial costs down. Since precision equipment can cost several million yen, purchasing it outright is a high hurdle, so rental—borrowing only for the required period—is an attractive option for temporary projects. In practice, many short-term surveys and pilot introductions have used rentals to reduce costs. With rental, “usage period = cost,” so there is no worry about equipment becoming idle assets, and the burden of storage and maintenance is reduced.

On the other hand, however, there are several issues with renting GNSS receivers. When used frequently or from a long-term perspective, rental may not always be optimal. Below, we organize the common issues pointed out when renting GNSS receivers, and then compare costs and operational efficiency for long-term use. Finally, we introduce LRTK as a new alternative to rental and outline its adoption benefits.

Common issues with GNSS receiver rentals

What problems do users commonly face when renting GNSS receivers? Here we look at five main issues: accuracy, equipment handling, support, accumulating costs, and failure risk.

Concerns about positioning accuracy and reliability

The greatest value of GNSS receivers is, needless to say, the ability to perform high-precision positioning. However, it is not necessarily easy to achieve high accuracy simply by borrowing equipment. Positioning is affected by environmental conditions and optimal settings, and inexperienced operators may not achieve the accuracy they expect. For example, achieving centimeter-level accuracy with RTK requires specialist knowledge such as connecting to base stations or network RTK services and monitoring satellite reception. Rental equipment may come with manuals or initial support, but mastering complex settings within a limited rental period is not easy. In addition, site conditions can cause satellite signal loss or multipath (reflection) issues, making it difficult to maintain stable accuracy. Even if the equipment itself is high-performance, it can be wasted if not used properly. Rental use therefore often comes with the lingering concern of “can I really achieve the target accuracy?”

Burden of equipment handling and support

High-precision GNSS receivers are precision equipment and require careful handling. This is even more true for rental items, where extra care must be taken to avoid damage or contamination. Carrying large tripods or poles and fixing and adjusting the equipment each time you move or set up on site is a physical burden. Especially for staff with little surveying experience, simply assembling the equipment and leveling it can be time-consuming. Some rental companies provide initial operation briefings or phone support, but actual field troubles vary widely. When problems like “positioning is unstable” or “the controller won’t connect” occur, a specialist who can rush to the site is not always available. Often you must decipher the manual and resolve issues yourself, which reveals the limits of support systems. With short-term rentals, the return date may come before users become proficient, resulting in trial-and-error on site without sufficient mastery.

Accumulating costs and hidden burdens

While rental reduces per-use payment, it is important to note that costs accumulate if used repeatedly. For example, renting a piece of equipment for a few weeks may be cheap compared to buying, but if you rent it multiple times a year, the total amount can become significant. If you rent for many months during a long-term project, the rental fees may equal or even exceed purchase costs. Also, extending rental periods can incur late fees or additional charges. Although these costs are easy to process as expenses, you may end up realizing that rental fees alone have grown into a substantial expense. Additionally, rental may incur separate insurance or compensation fees, and there is a risk of being billed large sums for loss or damage. In short, while rental is inexpensive in the short term, it can become expensive over the long term.

Failure risk and maintenance uncertainty

Even rental equipment carries the risk of failures and malfunctions in the field. If a precision GNSS receiver malfunctions, it is difficult to repair it on site. With rental, you will ask the provider to arrange a replacement, but if the exchange takes time, work must be halted in the meantime. Unless you own spare equipment, relying entirely on rentals increases the risk of site stoppage. Although rental companies perform regular maintenance, there are cases where sensor calibration drift or battery degradation has progressed depending on the usage history. If you own equipment, you can manage routine inspections and calibration schedules yourself, but with rental items the history is less visible, raising the concern of unknowingly using equipment with subtle accumulated errors. Also, rental equipment may not always be the latest model. Missing out on new technologies (such as support for newer satellite signals or correction services) could reduce operational efficiency or accuracy.

Cost comparison of rental, subscription, and in-house purchase for long-term use

Based on the issues above, let us compare the costs of long-term use among rental, subscription services, and in-house purchase of GNSS receivers.

First, in terms of initial cost, rental is the cheapest. You only borrow when needed, so no large capital investment is required. On the other hand, in-house purchase often requires an initial investment of several million yen for a complete high-precision GNSS receiver setup. Especially when including a base station and rover set, a dedicated controller, and analysis software, the price can be out of reach for small and medium-sized companies. Subscription services sit in the middle, allowing significant reduction of initial cost while using equipment for a set monthly fee. For example, in some cases you can build an equivalent positioning environment for one-fifth to one-tenth of the budget of a conventional high-precision GNSS survey set. If you already use tablets or smartphones for work, you can further lower the introduction barrier by leveraging those devices.

Next, compare running costs (maintenance and operation). With rental, the rental fee incurred each time is the running cost. As mentioned earlier, frequent use increases the total cost. With in-house purchase, there are maintenance costs such as periodic inspections, calibration, repair costs in case of failure, and fees for RTK correction services (monthly fees of several thousand to tens of thousands of yen). These expenses required to maintain high precision are a downside of ownership. With subscription services, providers generally handle device maintenance and software updates, so users rarely need to perform calibration themselves. Correction service fees and data-processing software costs are often included in the package, so a fixed usage fee covering necessary items is common. Therefore, running costs with subscriptions are highly predictable and sudden expenses are reduced. Overall, over the long term, ownership or subscription often becomes cheaper than rental. Subscriptions in particular offer a good balance between initial burden and maintenance costs and are cost-effective for long-term use.

Finally, consider asset value. Rental is an operational expense with continuous outflow and leaves no asset on hand. Purchased equipment becomes a company asset that can be resold or reallocated internally. However, considering technological obsolescence and repair/support lifetimes, equipment value can decline after a few years. With subscriptions, you receive the latest service during the contract and can cancel when no longer needed, offering flexibility. Since you do not need to treat the equipment itself as an asset, you can enjoy always up-to-date technology without worrying about depreciation or obsolescence risk.

Is rental optimal for short-term projects? Considering cost efficiency

For short-term projects or one-off surveys, rental appears to be the most rational choice. For example, if you need a GNSS receiver for just one week, renting is overwhelmingly cheaper than buying. Using short-term rentals to “try high-precision GNSS” is also effective. The rental model—paying only for usage—is surely cost-effective for short-term use.

However, you should carefully judge whether the project will truly remain short-term. Initial plans of a few days can extend due to bad weather or schedule delays, and rental extensions can inflate costs. Also, if similar survey tasks recur several times (for example, a few site surveys per month), the effort and cost of arranging rentals each time accumulate. Each occurrence may be inexpensive, but over a year they can become a significant expense.

Furthermore, rental requires administrative tasks such as arranging, receiving, and returning equipment every time. In an emergency, if you haven’t reserved equipment in advance, you may not be able to secure it. For urgent needs like “we need measurements by tomorrow,” it is difficult to arrange a high-precision GNSS on the same day. In cases of multiple intermittent short-term projects or situations requiring rapid response, rental is not necessarily the best option. If you will use equipment several times within a certain period, owning it or using a subscription may be more efficient overall.

Differences in deployment speed and on-site responsiveness

Whether you can use equipment immediately when needed directly affects on-site productivity. With rental, there is a lead time to deployment: you must reserve in advance and wait for shipping and receipt. For urgent jobs requiring “survey by tomorrow,” arranging high-precision GNSS the same day is difficult. During busy seasons, rental reservations may be full and equipment unavailable. By contrast, owning GNSS receivers allows you to start surveying immediately when the need arises. Powering on the device typically takes only tens of seconds for satellite acquisition and RTK initialization, enabling immediate work. Eliminating the rental logistics enables a setup where you can “measure whenever you decide to.”

From the perspective of on-site responsiveness, having equipment on hand is clearly advantageous. Even during construction, if you want to check discrepancies with drawings, owning a GNSS receiver allows you to verify positions on the spot. Where you might previously have waited for a survey team or deferred until the next day, zero waiting time for decision-making is a huge benefit. This enables quick response to unexpected buried objects or design changes, improving overall construction risk management.

Usability and training cost perspective

The notion that handling advanced GNSS equipment requires specialist knowledge is becoming outdated. Recent GNSS receivers, especially those that link with smartphones or tablets, have dramatically improved usability. Compared to conventional dedicated controller terminals, smartphone apps allow intuitive positioning, reducing confusion for first-time users. Menus are often available in Japanese and easy to understand, and settings for connecting to correction sources or coordinate systems can be performed automatically with a single button, minimizing user burden.

With rental, you may not always get the same model. Each use may require adapting to different manufacturers’ devices and software, creating recurring learning costs. Staff may return equipment before becoming proficient, and next time may face different controls. Owning a specific device removes such operational variability. Site personnel who use the same equipment daily will improve their skills, increasing both the speed and accuracy of positioning work.

From a training cost perspective, modern solutions have advantages. Tasks that once required professionally trained surveyors can now be handled after a short briefing. Some local governments, facing a shortage of veteran surveyors, have begun training site staff to use smartphone-type GNSS receivers for routine maintenance tasks. Devices designed to minimize complicated operations can help address the knowledge transfer problem caused by veteran retirement. If younger staff can independently master such tools, it benefits personnel development as well.

On-site efficiency improvements enabled by cloud integration

To maximize the utilization of GNSS positioning data, cloud integration is key. In the past, survey data were recorded on-site, brought back to the office, imported to a PC, and processed in CAD—causing time lags. Today, directly connecting surveying equipment to the cloud can reduce data processing and sharing time to nearly zero.

For example, some modern GNSS receivers save coordinates to the cloud as they are measured, allowing office PCs to view data in real time. Functions that automatically attach positioning and orientation data to photos taken on site and store them in the cloud are already practical. This enables headquarters to immediately grasp what is happening on site and send accurate instructions. Using conventional rental equipment often delays sharing of measurement results, slowing information flow from site supervisors to management. Equipment designed for cloud integration makes seamless connection between site and office possible, speeding decision-making and improving report preparation efficiency.

Moreover, cloud platforms can perform survey data analysis and processing, allowing distance/area calculations and 3D point cloud visualization without purchasing dedicated software. Workflows such as sending point cloud data captured on site to the cloud and automatically generating required cross-sections or volume calculations are now realistic. This drastically shortens the time from measurement to deliverable generation, greatly improving overall operational efficiency. Centralized data management also facilitates accumulation and retrieval of historical site records, forming an important foundation for future DX (digital transformation) initiatives.

Reasons to consider alternatives to rental

As outlined above, while renting GNSS receivers has certain advantages, there is considerable value in considering other options when thinking long-term and comprehensively. Here are the main reasons to proactively consider alternatives (in-house purchase or subscription):

• Long-term cost benefits: Reduces total cost for continued use. Owning equipment is often more economical than frequent rentals.

• Improved deployment speed and mobility: Immediate availability increases site responsiveness. Reduces waiting time for surveys, leading to shorter schedules and lower risk.

• Easier operation and reduced training burden: Latest equipment is easier to handle and can be mastered with short training. Continued use of a single model improves proficiency and reduces mistakes.

• Efficiency gains from cloud usage: Enables immediate data sharing and analysis, smoothing site-office collaboration and eliminating cumbersome data handoffs via paper or USB.

• Data utilization and quality improvement: Owning equipment makes it easier to incorporate surveying into routine work, enabling frequent as-built checks and progress monitoring. Early detection and correction of issues improve construction quality and reduce rework.

Given the above, there are many scenarios where “not relying solely on rental” yields greater benefits. So what specific solution lets you enjoy these advantages? One promising answer is LRTK.

Benefits of simple positioning introduction with LRTK

LRTK is a new GNSS positioning solution that excels in long-term cost performance and can be deployed immediately on site. Specifically, it’s a system combining a palm-sized RTK-GNSS receiver that attaches to a smartphone or tablet, a surveying-dedicated mobile app, and a cloud service. This section introduces the main benefits of adopting LRTK.

First, LRTK has a low initial adoption hurdle. It does not require a conventional stationary base station; by attaching a palm-sized receiver (weighing about 160 g) to a device, you can begin high-precision positioning. Because you can leverage existing smartphones, there is no need to purchase a dedicated controller. Offered in a subscription model, LRTK allows access to the latest positioning environment for a monthly fee without a large upfront purchase. This pricing model makes it accessible to small companies and local governments, and usage is expanding regardless of organization size.

Next, LRTK also excels in on-site responsiveness. If you have an LRTK receiver and a smartphone, you can start surveying the moment you decide. No complicated setup is required: power on the receiver and launch the app to automatically acquire satellite signals and correction data. RTK centimeter-level positioning initializes in just tens of seconds, eliminating the long preparation times of conventional equipment. Its portability is outstanding—carrying a smartphone with an attached receiver in your pocket lets you quickly measure wherever needed. It truly delivers “measure anytime, anywhere.”

On positioning accuracy and reliability, LRTK supports multiple satellite constellations such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou, and can connect to Japan’s quasi-zenith satellite “Michibiki” centimeter-level enhancement service (CLAS) and network RTK via the internet. This enables stable centimeter-level accuracy from urban areas to mountainous regions. High-precision positioning that previously required a base station can be achieved even in areas without communication coverage thanks to satellite augmentation signals—an important advantage. On the software side, continuous updates to the latest versions provide ongoing accuracy improvements and added features, ensuring reliable use in the field.

Ease of operation is another major advantage. The dedicated app interface is designed to be easy for field workers, allowing intuitive control over start/stop of positioning, coordinate system settings, and data recording. Measured points are automatically converted to global geodetic systems and can be saved with notes and photos. For example, tapping the measurement button at a point instantly records latitude, longitude, height, and plane rectangular coordinates, while embedding the location into photos taken with the smartphone. This eliminates paper-based recording, preventing data loss or transcription errors. Training field staff is simple—those familiar with smartphones can start with a short briefing.

Finally, LRTK delivers cloud integration and all-in-one efficiency. It links with a dedicated cloud service to back up positioning and point cloud data immediately. This enables instant sharing of measurements with headquarters or other teams. The cloud can perform automatic distance/area calculations, 3D visualization, and matching with drawing data with a single click. Advanced functions that previously required separate devices or software—such as stakeout guidance, 3D scanning, and AR visualization of as-built conditions—can be realized on a single device and app with LRTK. When new features are added, online updates make them immediately available, so users always work with the latest tools. This comprehensive functionality allows you to feel the effects of on-site DX right after introduction.

By stepping beyond a rental-centered operation and adopting an advanced solution like LRTK, you can dramatically reduce the costs and effort associated with positioning work while improving work quality. From a long-term perspective, LRTK can be a smarter choice than renting GNSS receivers. LRTK, which brings high-precision positioning closer and more efficient, is an attractive option that could transform future site operations. Considering your company’s positioning needs, it may be worth evaluating once.