Brunei and Philippine Maps from Tele Atlas

Tele Atlas unveiled its first maps for Brunei and the Philippines and also increased coverage across Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Tele Atlas maps for Asia Pacific are now the most complete available, with navigable coverage of 15 countries and territories including more than 6.6 million kilometers of roadways and 8.5 million points of interest (POIs).

Tele Atlas maps for the Philippines cover more than 11 million inhabitants and offer over 10,000 POIs. The maps include coverage of nearly 10,000 kilometers of navigable roads, including fully attributed street network coverage of Manila. Tele Atlas maps of Brunei cover more than 2,700 kilometers of roadways, including complete street network coverage of the country.

Further building on its coverage lead in Southeast Asia, Tele Atlas navigable maps now include:

• Expanded coverage of Indonesia with 340,000 kilometers and more than 96,000 POIs, including detailed street network coverage in all major cities;

• Malaysia coverage with more than 32,000 POIs and 73,000 kilometers of roadways, including 10,000 new kilometers backed by Tele Atlas’ proprietary mobile mapping van technology;

• Thailand coverage of more than 765,000 kilometers and 476,000 POIs, marking an increase of more than 10,000 new POIs and more than 80 percent of fully attributable coverage;

• The addition of 110,000 kilometers and two million POIs in China, for a total of more than 2.1 million kilometers and 10 million POIs available for the country.

The new Tele Atlas maps are immediately available to all Tele Atlas personal navigation, wireless, Internet, automotive and enterprise customers worldwide. The latest updates also include a range of Tele Atlas enhancement products such as 3D Landmarks, 2D City Maps and Digital Elevation Models, which give local search application users maps that more closely reflect their surroundings.

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Tele Atlas digital map in ESRI StreetMap Premium

Tele Atlas digital map data will be added to the upcoming version of ESRI StreetMap Premium. The enhanced street database works with ESRI’s ArcGIS software to provide geocoding, routing and high quality map display.

The optimised data structure of StreetMap Premium, achieved through ESRI’s Smart Data Compression format, ensures ease of use with ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Desktop to deliver the highest address geocoding match rates, generate the best routes and driving directions and produce superior base maps. StreetMap Premium users have the flexibility to license the latest Tele Atlas maps by geography (continent, region, country or state/province) and by business function (e.g., display, geocoding, and/or routing).

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Tele Atlas: new maps using GPS

As reported, Dutch digital map maker Tele Atlas is creating new maps faster than ever by collecting data from motorists using GPS devices as they drive, which provides a rich set of information about roads.

Tele Atlas, which was acquired by the satellite navigation device maker Tom Tom in 2007, has been collecting GPS data points from Tom Tom users, recording information such as what roads they use, how fast they drive and even the road's gradient, said Rik Temmink, vice president of global product management. It's what Tele Atlas calls a "community" approach to map making.

"That's radically changed the way we do maps," Temmink said. "They [users] paint of a picture of what the roads look like."

In the past, Tele Atlas sent out vehicles to physically drive the roads in order to create maps. Now, some of that work can be automated using specialized algorithms to sort through the GPS data and build maps.

Tele Atlas still has to send out teams to verify data, but it has made the process of creating high-quality maps much faster, Temmink said. Tele Atlas has used the community approach for updating maps in about 30 countries.

On Monday Tele Atlas released its latest edition of MultiNet, a mapping database. For the first time, it includes maps for more than 11,000 miles of roads in Romania.

Romania is not a core market for Tom Tom. People driving there often have purchased their devices in countries such as Germany but drive in Romania, allowing Tele Atlas to collect the data when people plug their devices into their PCs, Temmink said. Users are asked if they are willing to provide the data.

Tele Atlas sells its map data to companies such as Google and Microsoft as well as device makers such as NavMan and Garmin. Those companies present the data in their own customized formats.

Also on Monday, Tele Atlas opened up another one of its data products, HD Traffic, for customers outside of Tom Tom. HD Traffic provides real-time updates on traffic flows.

It does that by using a couple of different methods. HD Traffic collects data from sensors that have been placed on highway overpasses used to measure traffic, Temmink said. But the problem with sensors is that only major roads are covered, and as people move off those roads, there's little data.

Prior to acquiring Tele Atlas, Tom Tom made an agreement with mobile provider Vodafone to collect information from phone subscribers. As people travel with their mobile phones, the signal is handed off to different transmission towers, and someone's speed and location can be determined.

That's useful for traffic measurements, as the data can show when someone who is on a major highway slows down, there's likely traffic. The data received from Vodafone is anonymized, and subscribers are not asked whether they want to opt in, Temmink said. Tele Atlas uses algorithms to filter out data from people who are not driving and may be, for example, not on a road at all or are jogging in a park.

HD Traffic also incorporates information that comes from government sources, such as road construction projects, Temmink said.

Previously, HD Traffic was available to Tom Tom users only on a few devices, Temmink said. Tele Atlas is now selling the data feed to anyone, such as developers who want to create their own application incorporating the data, he said.

HD Traffic will initially cover Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, with about 90 percent of the highways and major arterial roads covered.

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Tele Atlas joins ESRI Small Government ELA Program

Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, has joined ESRI's Small Municipal and County Government Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) program to provide local governments with enterprise-wide licenses for ESRI’s ArcGIS software and Tele Atlas’ comprehensive street data to power essential GIS deployments. The ESRI Small Municipal and County Government Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) program will help local governments better serve their citizens with functionality to perform emergency response and preparedness, permitting and inspection, incident/crime analysis, hazardous materials inventory, planning and many other vital government functions and services.

Many smaller governments do not have the financial resources or personnel to leverage the GIS software and data that could protect lives and property while saving time and money. Through the ESRI ELA, local governments gain access to a central, enterprise-wide resource that can provide seamless geocoding, mapping and routing functionality across all of the local government’s departments and agencies. The license permits enterprise-wide access to ESRI’s ArcGIS software and Tele Atlas’ highly accurate street data for a period of three years.

ESRI President Jack Dangermond says, “Tele Atlas’ participation in the Small Municipal and County Government ELA program is in keeping with our long-standing collaboration. By making our combined services available through one agreement, Tele Atlas and ESRI put the geographic approach to solving problems within easy reach of local governments.”

“Tele Atlas and ESRI have always worked together to bring data to governments when they need it most,” said John Cassidy, Vice President of GIS and Government for Tele Atlas. “The most exciting aspect of this collaboration is the ability to quickly and easily enable GIS capabilities to help local government best serve its citizens.”

The ESRI Small Municipal and County Government ELA program provides access to the spatial technology that local governments need with a straightforward three-tiered pricing schedule. The program is designed for governments in the United States that serve populations of 100,000 or less.

For more information on ESRI’s Small Municipality and County Government ELA, visit www.esri.com/smallgovela.

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Tele Atlas and Datamap Sign Agreement for Argentina Maps

Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location based solutions (LBS), today announced an agreement with Argentina-based Datamap to develop and deliver digital maps and related content covering Latin America’s second largest economy.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tele Atlas will gain access to Datamap’s existing database of more than 200,000 kilometers of navigable roads in Argentina, including map information for three major cities – Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Rosario, and will make it immediately available with additional content such as points of interest (POIs) to its personal navigation, wireless, Internet, automotive and enterprise customers worldwide. Datamap will continue to monitor the country’s road network for changes, providing updates to Tele Atlas on a regular basis.

“Argentina is a growing economy that is just starting to adopt personal navigation devices and mobile location-based applications,” said Tele Atlas CEO Bill Henry. “Datamap gives us the strongest foundation on which to expand our Latin American offering. Combined with a new regional headquarters, we have an exciting road ahead as the country’s drivers and mobile phone users increasingly rely on digital maps.”

“Quality maps are fundamental to the navigation user’s experience, and Datamap is proud to have developed the most detailed and up-to-date digital map of Argentina available,” said Santiago Casaux Alsina, Datamap CEO. “Our partnership with Tele Atlas allows us to concentrate on updating the maps and providing world-class services to Latin American companies.”

Tele Atlas currently offers maps covering 75 countries around the world, including fully navigable maps of Brazil and Mexico. Latin America is an important region for Tele Atlas and its industry partners; the company will continue to expand its Latin American offering in the future with map coverage planned to be available in 2009, including Chile and Uruguay.

Further demonstrating commitment to the market, Tele Atlas also announced the formation of new regional headquarters in Buenos Aires, headed by Director of Latin America Data Sourcing James O’Gorman.

For more information, visit www.teleatlas.com and www.datamap.com.ar.

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Winner of Tele Atlas “Maps in Apps” Contest

Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, today announced PongrTM (www.pongr.com) as the winner of the Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series’ Maps In Apps 2008 competition. Based on the application usability, innovative use of map data and market potential of their LBS applications, three finalists were selected to demonstrate their new location-based solutions in the Tele Atlas booth at CTIA IT & Entertainment: Pongr, Open Green MapTM and Travel Channel GoTM; attendees of the event viewed demonstrations and voted for their favorite application, selecting Pongr as the winner.

Pongr’s mobile technology allows consumers to price comparison shop, from their cell phone, for just about anything they want to buy.

By simply taking a picture or texting item information, users automatically get the best price and location information for the nearby stores sent back to their phone.

As the grand prize winner, Pongr will be awarded $25,000 cash and a license to Tele Atlas map data valued at $50,000. As semi-finalists, Open Green Map and Travel Channel Go will each receive prizes of $10,000 cash and a license to Tele Atlas map data valued at $20,000. Additionally, Tele Atlas named Dial Directions as runner-up and 3-GIS as the best enterprise application.

The annual Maps In Apps competition, sponsored by Autodesk, Inc., and SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc., is part of the ongoing Tele Atlas LBS Innovators Series. The Series serves in conjunction with Tele Atlas DeveloperLinkSM to help foster innovation and enable application developers to increase their visibility, credibility and success with key participants in the industry including investors, carriers and technology providers. This year, the Maps In Apps contest finalists were selected by experts from industry-leading companies, including Autodesk, deCarta, Human Factors International, Motorola, Networks In Motion (NIM), Research In Motion and SiRF.

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Google Signs Five Year Map Agreement with Tele Atlas

Tele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, today announced that Google, a top web property in all major global markets, has signed a long term license agreement with the company that gives Google access to Tele Atlas maps and dynamic content in more than 200 countries around the world.

The agreement spans Google’s current and future map-based services and navigation offerings across mobile, online and desktop environments. These include the Google Maps and Google Earth services and mobile applications such as Google Maps for Mobile. The agreement also gives Tele Atlas access to edits for its maps from Google’s community of users, whose suggested changes can help the company further increase the quality and richness of Tele Atlas maps.

“Google’s innovation and leadership is undisputed, and we are proud to have the opportunity to be the map foundation for one of the world’s most progressive web companies,” said Bill Henry, CEO of Tele Atlas. “This agreement is important too because it gives us access to input from a significant online community of map users, whose feedback can help us keep our maps fresh and accurate.”

“Geospatial data enhances global search significantly by organizing data and delivering results based on location,” said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Google Maps. “Tele Atlas’ map quality and the company’s innovative approach to business were the key drivers for our decision.”

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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Powerful Digital Map Database with Extensive Global Coverage from Tele Atlas

Tele Atlas Partner Conference 2008 -- Tele Atlas , a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, today unveiled Tele Atlas MultiNav(TM), the company's newest digital map platform that is designed to allow navigation application developers even greater speed and flexibility for building next generation mapping applications. MultiNav features all of the benefits of Tele Atlas' rich digital map database, delivered with a smaller data footprint to help decrease time-to-market, enable developers to spend less time in the development process and allow a smaller run-time format for their innovative applications for a competitive advantage. Tele Atlas' comprehensive map content spans across 27.2 million kilometers in more than 70 countries, to the front doors of 1.9 billion people around the world.

Developed with Tele Atlas' comprehensive and advanced data collection processes, MultiNav is available immediately to offer partners broad, comprehensive worldwide coverage. Developers can leverage the MultiNav platform in concert with Tele Atlas's suite of digital map content and enhancements products, including millions of points of interest (POIs), Tele Atlas(R) Digital Elevation Models, Tele Atlas(R) 3D Landmarks and Tele Atlas(R) Voice Maps. Tele Atlas plans to incorporate additional innovative functionality and content into the new MultiNav platform, including map data enriched with qualified community content.

"The market demands an ever-increasing amount of invaluable features and attributes in our digital maps and concurrently, our partners need to quickly and efficiently deliver competitive products. Tele Atlas' engineers attacked this challenge head-on, streamlining the footprint to create a more nimble, feature-rich option to suit the needs of developers in our community," said Tele Atlas Global Product Director Purvi Rajani. "Pilot users are reporting that MultiNav has successfully helped reduce development time, without sacrificing quality or richness of the data. Our global partners have relied on us to deliver solutions that repeatedly raise the bar for the digital mapping industry. With MultiNav, we continue this legacy."

Responding to navigation application development requirements, Tele Atlas engineered MultiNav with an array of powerful, out-of-the-box features, designed to enhance performance, including:

-- Optimized data structure to enable developers to compile data faster and more easily;

-- Reduced data footprint to optimize device cost and efficiency, with superb results seen across European, North American and Asia Pacific maps;

-- A single global data specification with out-of-the-box indexing to incorporate a single global map solution.

Pilot user Sygic, a GPS navigation software provider for a range of mobile devices and smartphones, began working with Tele Atlas MultiNav in late 2007 to develop the next version of its software for OEMs, distributors, car manufacturers and logistics companies. "Through the development process with Tele Atlas MultiNav, we significantly reduced our data footprint, allowing our development team to easily build and deploy with MultiNav's features, attributes and relationship models," said Sygic CEO and Founder Michal Stencl. "We're also seeing bottom-line benefits with this faster development cycle. After switching to the MultiNav platform, we were able to fully deploy in early 2008, well ahead of schedule, leading to significantly increased revenues. Q1 2008 revenue exceeded revenue from Q1 2007 by more than 426 percent."

Reports from pilot users have shown that the streamlined MultiNav platform helps developers to:

-- Compile digital map data faster and more easily. One trial user noted complete data compilation at the application level within one week, marking a major reduction in compilation time;

-- Leverage existing data compilers to process the data successfully, with minimal configuration effort required.

-- Significantly reduce data size, with a reported reduction of approximately 30-40 percent in the overall data footprint on devices; for example Tele Atlas digital map data for all available European countries can fit on SD cards with less than 2 gigabytes of memory -- with full functionality and quality included.

To learn more about Tele Atlas MultiNav, please download the Tele Atlas MultiNav Product Information Sheet available online.

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Tele Atlas To Propose New CEO As Company Ushers In New Era in Digital Mapping

As TomTom concludes the financial minutiae of its Tele Atlas acquisition, Tele Atlas said that it is looking to appoint a new CEO and board member, while its current COO and president will retire.

The company's supervisory board will make a binding nomination to appoint Bill Henry as its new CEO and member of its management board, Tele Atlas said. Alain De Taeye, who founded the company in 1984, will resign as CEO and from the board following the proposed appointment of Henry. Tele Atlas will further propose that De Taeye be appointed to TomTom's management board, while remaining strategically involved with Tele Atlas.

Henry would be a newcomer to the satellite navigation industry. He has more than 20 years of management experience with technology companies, however, according to Tele Atlas. Formerly he led the turnaround of healthcare software leader iSOFT; acting as COO he was an executive director on the iSOFT board and oversaw the company's merger with IBA Health in 2007, Tele Atlas said. Before that Henry was CEO of Star Technology Services, a division of Message Labs Group. He has also held executive roles at PeopleSoft, and Bellcore/Telcordia Technologies, Sprint, and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC).

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Map Data for USGS Products and Operations to be delivered by Tele Atlas

Tele Atlas , a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, today announced an agreement whereby the USGS will leverage Tele Atlas digital map data to help develop internal USGS mapping operations solutions and for use within the USGS Web Locator application for the display of maps and geocoded addresses.

"As we continue to expand the scope of our map-based offerings and more organizations and individuals seek map-related information from USGS, it is vital that we are able to continue to offer products of the highest quality," said Kari Craun, Director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center (NGTOC).

Through the agreement, the USGS will deliver Web-based 1:24,000-scale maps containing the U.S. National Grid in conjunction with Tele Atlas map data, to support the efforts of the USGS serving the emergency and first responder communities. All USGS products will continue to be modeled on the traditional 7.5-minute topographic maps and designed for mainstream digital map users.

"We're proud to work with the USGS to power its mapping applications and to collaborate to help deliver its first products based on private and public cartographic resources," said John Cassidy, vice president of enterprise and government markets, Tele Atlas. "The strength and accuracy of our digital maps and the broad application offerings available through the USGS combine to meet the demands of vital government and public service functions, as well as for the individual map user, to better support the USGS mission."

About Tele Atlas
Tele Atlas delivers the digital maps and dynamic content that power some of the world's most essential navigation and location-based services (LBS). The information is the foundation for a wide range of personal and in-car navigation systems and mobile and Internet map applications that help users find the people, places, products, and services they need, wherever they are. The company also works with business partners who trust its digital map data to deliver critical applications for emergency, business, fleet, and infrastructure services. Through a combination of its own products and partnerships, Tele Atlas offers digital map coverage of more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 1984 and today has approximately 2,500 full-time staff and contract cartographers at offices in 24 countries and uses a sophisticated network of professional drivers, mobile mapping vans, and more than 50,000 data resources to deliver highly accurate and up-to-date digital maps. Tele Atlas is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (TA6) and on Euronext Amsterdam (TA). For more information, visit www.teleatlas.com.

Source: http://www.teleatlas.com/

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Tele Atlas joint venture formed with MappointAsia

Tele Atlas, global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location based solutions, unveiled its first mobile mapping van in Southeast Asia in downtown Singapore, further demonstrating its commitment to delivering high quality digital map data across the region. Tele Atlas also announced a joint venture with MappointAsia Thailand to form Tele Atlas (Thailand) Co., Ltd, which will operate as an independent entity focused on delivering a complete navigable digital map database of the country for in-car, portable, Internet, and wireless navigation systems and applications.

The deployment of the Mobile Mapping Van in Singapore marks the second vehicle in the Asia Pacific fleet. Tele Atlas will further integrate its most advanced map updating processes into its operations with data captured from the innovative mobile mapping van. Through roof-mounted 360 degree cameras and laser sensors, Tele Atlas' Mobile Mapping Vans quickly and efficiently capture information about a road including lane counts, speed limits, and other data, giving Tele Atlas the information it requires to regularly update its maps. The van also collects images of streets, storefronts, road signs, and complex intersections that can be incorporated in maps to help users more easily find locations. The van will begin collecting data for the complete road network of Singapore initially and then be deployed in other countries in the region.

"Tele Atlas has strong confidence in the market potential of Southeast Asia, and the launch of our Mobile Mapping technology in Singapore will help us further develop our global technology platform with rich road network attributes and visual enhancements," said Tele Atlas Asia Pacific Chief Operating Officer Mark Steele. "The formation of Tele Atlas Thailand further strengthens our unparalleled operational footprint in Southeast Asia, which serves as a key area in the automotive market and has strong potential in the burgeoning wireless market. The combination of our experience and technology with MappointAsia's regional expertise will help us meet growing customer requirements for highly accurate digital maps of Thailand."

Tele Atlas Thailand will focus on the production, maintenance, upgrade and commercialization of a navigable database, which is designed to be fully aligned with Tele Atlas' global map offering and seamlessly integrated in the Southeast Asia regional solution. Based in Bangkok and employing more than 100 database production and collection staff, the joint venture will be immediately operational, with products already available from the existing Mappoint databases now benefiting from Tele Atlas' extensive data collection and product technologies. The joint venture also will serve as a regional competency center for the company to support all operations and coverage expansion for Tele Atlas in the Southeast Asia region.

"We are very excited to collaborate with Tele Atlas in this new joint venture, marking a new milestone in our existing partnership," said MappointAsia (Thailand) Chief Executive Officer M.L. Saksiri Kridakorn. "Through the provision of high quality and rich content maps of Thailand, Tele Atlas Thailand will enable a wide variety of global customers and will also provide appropriate map solutions for the local market."

Source : http://www.euronext.com

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Tele Atlas Touring Series

Tele Atlas, provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, announced the launch of Tele Atlas Touring Series, a digital map product featuring content and scenic route information from the popular “Get Outta Town” series from MAD MAPS, Inc., authority on scenic touring.

Application developers will be able to incorporate this unique location-based, road trip content into personal and in-car navigation systems and mobile, wireless and Internet map applications powered by Tele Atlas maps, to help provide users with an enhanced and personalized navigation experience.

“MAD MAPS is committed to providing scenic road trip maps that are rich with valuable route and point of interest (POI) information for the leisure traveler or for the business traveler with a little extra time on his hands,” said Jenny Lefferts, CEO of MAD MAPS. “By combining our unique routes with Tele Atlas’ breadth of experience and partnerships in the personal and automotive navigation markets, we’re able to ensure digital map users can have as much fun getting to their destination as being there.“

Delivering routes departing from major metropolitan cities, Tele Atlas Touring Series currently are available for 30 U.S. cities, including Boston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Each series will feature five to seven routes for scenic road trips to help guide digital map users on a variety of excursions with turn-by-turn directions and a range of POIs such as local roadhouses, roadside attractions and recreational areas. Rich descriptions are provided for all routes and POIs, as well as entertaining insights and historical anecdotes– all piquing the traveler’s interest.

“As the demand for personalized navigation continues, consumers will increasingly rely on and seek more information from their navigation systems and location-based services,” said Michael Evers, vice president of marketing and new business development, Tele Atlas. “By working with MAD MAPS to deliver unique, rich content, we help to ensure our industry partners can deliver a personalized navigation offering that helps travelers find a little adventure along the more scenic, less traveled roads.”

Source : http://www.teleatlas.com

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TeleAtlas Connect

Tele Atlas, digital maps and dynamic content provider for navigation and location-based solutions, announced the availability of Tele Atlas Connect, which provides digital map coverage for more than 170 countries and territories. With Tele Atlas Connect complementing the company’s comprehensive MultiNet global digital map database, Tele Atlas map data now covers more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Tele Atlas maps will now feature data for more than 30 million kilometers (more than 20 million miles) of road coverage globally, with the additional map coverage featuring data for countries in Latin America and regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.

Tele Atlas Connect is intended to provide partners with a single, seamless global coverage solution for digital map and location-based applications. It features basic mapping and routing functionality and allows cross-border routing that links the Tele Atlas Connect road network to the MultiNet database. Tele Atlas Connect will help enable the delivery of global digital map coverage in a standard database format and can be utilized in applications such as those that help end users initiate local searches all over the world.

Source : http://www.teleatlas.com

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