Laos
2013 – BeiDou
In 2011, China became the third nation to declare a PNT system operational, with the announcement that its BeiDou system was able to provide location data and SMS messaging for users within China. In late 2012, The China Satellite Navigation Office published the complete interface control document for the system, enabling international manufacturers to build BeiDou-compatible receivers. Basic services to surrounding regions in Asia were enabled in 2012, and by mid-2013, Chinese efforts to aggressively promote BeiDou as a viable alternative to GPS and GLONASS were well underway.