Satellite Radio To Dominate The North American Market for Premium Real-Time Traffic Information, according to ABI Research

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.--Jan. 6, 2005--In-vehicle navigation systems in North America have lagged behind their Japanese and European counterparts for many years with respect to their feature sets. One area where this gap is narrowing is with the delivery of real-time traffic data into the navigation system.

Until recently, in-vehicle navigation systems in North America have not been able to support real time traffic data mostly due to the lack of a viable data pipe into the vehicle.

"This synergy will help North America catch up to Japan and Western Europe in the availability of real-time traffic information," says ABI Research analyst David Schrier.

The new report, "Real-Time Traffic Systems," finds that the advent of satellite radio to deliver real-time traffic data will not only spur adoption of real-time traffic data services in North America, but for navigation systems as well, according to new research from ABI Research.

Schrier adds that the addition of real-time traffic information is a powerful inducement for daily commuters whom might not have considered purchasing a navigation system for its maps alone.

XM Satellite Radio currently offers traffic data subscription services, while Sirius Satellite Radio plans to offer this service in the future. XM's "NavTraffic" has been offered as a standard feature on the Acura RL which debuted late last year, and as an option on the Cadillac CTS being released this month. Aftermarket navigation systems with satellite radio-based traffic data feeds will also be introduced in the near future from vendors such as Cobra, Delphi and Pioneer.

XM NavTraffic information originates from both Mobility Technologies' automated roadside monitoring system(Traffic Pulse Networks) and from Infinity Broadcasting Corp. (Westwood One).

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