Summer 2006

Users of the Telmap mobile phone-based navigation system should soon have real-time traffic information incorporated in the service - and there will be no extra charge to the phone service operators who make it available. The company says it is the first in the field to offer this capability.

Traffic information is usually captured by local organisations in each country, but Telmap has circumvented this problem by striking a deal with ARC Transistance, the international umbrella motoring organisation, which already collates traffic information in many of the countries where it operates.

To begin with Telmap is offering the traffic information in eleven European countries including the UK, where the traffic input is provided by ITIS, one of the established specialists. More countries are to be added later.

The company says the service will allow mobile operators to offer their subscribers seamless, full-featured mobile navigation that includes real-time mapping, navigation, points of interest, traffic and other rich content - and they will not have impose separate charges for each country. What they themselves charge users is a separate issue.

 

ARC Transistance is owned by a group of European motoring organisations, including Britain's AA. Its membership includes motoring clubs in almost every European and Nordic country, plus some countries further afield, such as the Ukraine.

It provides motoring services to individuals and through vehicle manufacturers' schemes, and also has a Web portal providing information and related products and services to motorists.

In its turn, ARC Transistance is a member of Global Response Telematics, a worldwide organisation that also includes AAA in the US, CAA in Canada and Intelematics of Australia.