Irvine-based CUE Corp. last week said it had signed an initial agreement with The Automobile Association of the United Kingdom to launch a real-time traffic information service for in-vehicle navigation.
The nationwide service will begin operating by year’s end, and will be available on all in-vehicle navigation systems in the UK. CUE plans to grow local employment from 100 now to around 125 to take on the new UK project.
CUE operates a radio data network that covers more than 50,000 miles of interstate highways and more than 95% of the population of Canada and the U.S. The firm provides real-time route-specific traffic information in more than 60 markets in Canada and the U.S. Its software allows traffic information to be made route-specific, eliminating traffic information that does not concern the driver.
Navigation systems using the CUE service include those from Clarion, InfoGation, Motorola, STMicroelectronics and BMW. CUE also has developed hand-held traffic information receivers.
The company recently introduced a voice version of its traffic service that connects to car radios through the cellular telephone interface and currently works with Ford, BMW, Pioneer, Alpine, Sony and Becker radios.
The UK’s Automobile Association has more than 10 million members, making it an important distribution channel for the company, according to Chief Executive Gordon Kaiser.
“The AA has been in operation in the UK for the past 100 years, and provides the vast majority of emergency roadside services for most of the UK’s motorists,” said Kaiser. “So it’s a very important partner.”
CUE has also begun partnerships with MediaMobile in France and Tegaron Telematics in Germany. MediaMobile is a joint venture of France Telecom, Renault, Traffic Master and Cofiroute. Tegaron is a joint venture of Deutsche Telekom and DaimlerChrysler.
CUE also is working on a joint venture in Italy, which will be ready to go by month-end, according to Kaiser.
The AA is Europe’s largest provider of traffic information. It also operates the world’s largest patrol force, with 3,600 vehicles handling more than 4.5 million vehicle breakdowns each year. The AA has direct access to real-time traffic speed data taken from a national network of sensors.
CUE was founded in 1984 by Nokia Mobile Phones, and was purchased in 1990 by Toronto-based Radio Satellite Network Corp. n
