Today, TomTom and Vodafone UK will announce their exclusive agreement: TomTom's in-house patented technology will use the information from the Vodafone network to provide accurate, real-time information on the speed and direction of cars travelling on all major roads across the United Kingdom. As a result, customers will have a better understanding of the exact traffic situation and be able to plan and change their route instantly to avoid traffic congestion.
Comments
Harold Goddijn, TomTom's Chief Executive Officer comments: "This important development is a major breakthrough in mobility management and route guidance and will significantly benefit our customers. This will clearly improve the daily travel experience of our UK users. By working with Vodafone to bring the granularity of information from their mobile network to solve everyday navigation needs, we will redefine traffic mobility in the UK. It is TomTom's ambition to cover 50% of our installed European base by 2008 and this is another step towards making this revolutionary solution available to more drivers."
Vodafone UK is also very happy with the joint effort. Tim Stone, Director of New Business Development and Wholesale for Vodafone UK says: "We are extremely pleased to be working with TomTom to bring this innovative service to the UK. This exciting new initiative is a further demonstration of our commitment to
develop new opportunities in the mobile market. Thanks to the quality of our data, UK drivers will soon be able to access up-to-the-minute traffic updates that will let them plan and navigate the fastest route for all their journeys."
No details yet
There are no exact details about this new service available yet, but TomTom has announced that all details will be disclosed when the new service launches, in the first half of 2008. All current and future TomTom users will be able to benefit from the service then. The service is meant for both consumers and road authorities/businesses, who may use it for dynamic traffic control management, and improved fleet management.
Hang on!
"TomTom's in-house patented technology will use the information from the Vodafone network to provide accurate, real-time information on the speed and direction of cars travelling on all major roads across the United Kingdom."Will TT and Vodafone seek the permission of the owners and drivers of cars to be tracked in this way and will these companies eventually collaberate with the government's desires to control our movements; is this the early stage of
"Pay as you go, driving"I'm on the Vodafone network and if this goes ahead I'll be dumping it and my TT for something less intrusive and no, I don't have anything to hide but I value my privacy.
This should be totally anonymous, but I very much doubt that the data will be reliable in the cities
QUOTE (Gasman @ Jun 26 2007, 16:20) 
Will TT and Vodafone seek the permission of the owners and drivers of cars to be tracked in this way and will these companies eventually collaberate with the government's desires to control our movements; is this the early stage of
"Pay as you go, driving" Your car is not tracked... you are. Everbody who uses a mobile phone is. Doesn't matter if you use Vodafone or another provider.
Don't worry about your privacy... as long as you're carrying that mobile phone, they can find you...
But don't let that worry you. They question is: why would they want to track your every move? They don't, trust me. (not unless you do something badly wrong, that is
)
My point is that TomTom doesn't receive any information about the individual. They receive the Vodafone data on all their users as a whole, combined with where these users currently are on which road. And that info is then used to provide traffic info to all the TomTom users. No tracking of the individual going on here. TomTom cannot do that. (the mobile phone companies can, but that's another matter...)
QUOTE I'm on the Vodafone network and if this goes ahead I'll be dumping it and my TT for something less intrusive and no, I don't have anything to hide but I value my privacy.
As I already stated: every mobile phone company can track you. The only way to avoid this is to not use a mobile phone at all anymore (not really an option for most people). Changing provider will not do you any good though...
Will you need to be a customer of Vodafone to benefit from this new collaboration, or will the collected information be shared with all TomTom Traffic subscribers regardless of which mobile phone company your account is with?
Alan
it will form a part of TomTom Traffic services, so will be available to everybody and very likely that the data will be sold on to other interested parties
16-05
June 26, 2007 - 11:22 h
