Contract
ITIS Holdings PLC
13 August 2003
Wednesday 13th August 2003
ITIS HOLDINGS AGREES SIGNIFICANT THREE YEAR CONTRACT
WITH FORD MOTOR COMPANY FOR RDS-TMC TRAFFIC SERVICE
ITIS Holdings Plc (ITIS) has signed an important three-year contract with Ford
Motor Company to supply its RDS-TMC (Radio Data System - Traffic Message
Channel) service on Ford's New-Look Mondeo with immediate effect and shortly on
the Ford Focus. Ford's brand new compact MPV, the Focus
C-MAX, will also benefit from this new service when it goes on sale later this
year. The service will be standard on all satellite navigation systems and will
allow drivers to receive real-time, and predictive traffic information from
ITIS, enabling them to re-route and avoid traffic congestion.
This contract is the first of the Ford Motor Company brands to standardise the
RDS TMC service and is part of a larger framework agreement to provide this
service across other Premier Automotive Group brands including Land Rover, Aston
Martin, Volvo and Jaguar.
Peter Fleet, Ford of Britain Marketing Director said, 'The adoption of the ITIS
RDS-TMC service is a clear example of Ford Motor Company's ongoing commitment to
telematics and to providing our customers with innovative technology. The
New-Look Ford Mondeo embodies craftsmanship and technology and this service will
ensure we continue to offer our customers the leading edge technology they
demand. Customers are increasingly looking to in-car navigation systems to
support their journeys and following the introduction of RDS-TMC, Ford Motor
Company plans to offer customers fully integrated, real-time dynamic traffic
information as an integral part of the satellite navigation system.'
Stuart Marks, Chief Executive of ITIS Holdings, commented, 'We are delighted
that Ford will be the first of the Ford Motor Company Brands to standardise RDS
TMC on their satellite navigation systems offering with our dynamic traffic
information. This agreement adds to contracts in place with manufacturers who
already use the ITIS TMC service including BMW, Toyota and in the aftermarket
Vauxhall and Mitsubishi. '
- ends -
Contacts:
Stuart Marks, Chief Executive, ITIS Holdings plc - 0161 929 5788
Ginny Pulbrook, Citigate Dewe Rogerson - 0207 638 9571
Note to editors:
• Accompanying photography is available
• The Ford Mondeo and Focus C-Max brands will be the first to benefit
following a broader three-year contract that was signed between Ford Motor
Company and ITIS Holdings in September 2002. Under this agreement, ITIS'
RDS-TMC service will be rolled out across the entire Ford portfolio of
brands, including Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo and Aston Martin.
• RDS-TMC enables the driver to receive the latest traffic information
specific to their position at any time on a journey, and giving them the
option to dynamically re-route around any congestion or hold-ups. Drivers
will already be familiar with the RDS system, which displays the name of a
radio station and constantly retunes to the strongest signal as their car
moves around the country. However, the TMC feature, often already built in
to vehicles' navigation systems, is gradually being enabled as vehicle
manufacturers commit to the industry standard RDS-TMC protocol.
• ITIS Holdings will provide the service to Ford Motor Company in conjunction
with its partner the Automobile Association, with which it collaborates on
RDS-TMC as part of a wider agreement between the two companies. ITIS
traffic information is collated from a combination of journalistic and
real-time sources using its own FVD (Floating Vehicle Data) network. The
data is then transmitted via directly to the TMC receiver using a carrier
of the Classic FM radio network, which provides coverage of 90% of the
strategic road network.
• TMC is a European-developed and standardised means of delivering real-
time traffic information. Transmitted data is decoded by a receiving
device such as a satellite navigation system and translated into text or
speech traffic alerts. By combining traffic information delivered via
RDS-TMC, with the re-routing facilities offered by satellite navigation
systems, drivers are finally afforded dynamic avoidance of traffic
congestion.
• ITIS Holdings plc, listed on Aim, is the UK's leading provider of traffic
information and vehicle security services. ITIS has invested in the
development of a unique system for the collection and analysis of traffic
information; it combines information from the AA traffic control centres
with ITIS Historic and real-time Floating Vehicle Data (FVD) to provide
Journey time forecasts and real-time updates. ITIS now operates the largest
commercial application of FVD anywhere in the world, and delivers the
content over a variety of platforms including RDS-TMC (Alert C), digital
radio and automated telephone services (IVR) under the AA RoadWatch brand.
• Following a formal agreement in 2003 with the Radio Licensing Authority,
ITIS Holdings effectively holds the licence for RDS-TMC in the UK for a
further eight years.
• For further information on RDS-TMC visit www.rds-tmc.co.uk.
• Through its NavTrak business (www.navtrak.com), ITIS has developed a unique
and innovative stolen vehicle tracking service delivered via GPS/GSM
technology, which offers theft alerts, vehicle tracking and police liaison
throughout Europe.
• Detection of theft - even when owner's keys have been taken.
(Automatic Driver Recognition - ADR)
• Automatic GPS tracking of stolen vehicles (Stolen Vehicle Recovery)
• Theft alerts, GPS tracking and police liaison covering 20 European
countries (EUROWATCH)
• Instantaneous position report to any mobile phone (AutoTrak)
• Mileage reports to show trips and cumulative distances travelled
(Journey Diary)
• The NavTrak family of telematics units are fitted to over 100,000 vehicles
both in UK, mainland Europe, America and Australia (including products made
and sold under the manufacturer's name of Minorplanet Systems plc)
• ITIS provide traffic data to all mobile phone providers. To receive
up-to-date traffic and travel information direct from your mobile 'phone
call 401100 from any network; 2222 from Vodafone; 2020 from T-mobile
• ITIS provide traffic data to www.getmethere.co.uk, a comprehensive service
from Toyota providing information on route planning, traffic information,
traffic alerts and incidents, and weather forecasts.
For further information please visit www.itisholdings.com or www.navtrak.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange BLBBQ