Nokia and Protection One Mobile To Develop New "Smart Car" Products
5 August 1999
Nokia and Protection One Mobile To Develop New "Smart Car" Products and Services
IRVING, Texas--Aug. 5, 1999--to Experience Significant Growth in Next Few Years
NOTE: On June 28, 1999, Protection One Mobile Services Group
agreed to be acquired by ATX Technologies Inc. of San
Antonio. Closure of that agreement is pending and, once
completed, will result in ATX Technologies becoming the
industry leader in telematics.
Nokia and Protection One Mobile Services Group today announced they have entered into an agreement to jointly develop wireless-based emergency, navigational and information products and services for both the automotive industry and consumers.
The "smart car" telematics industry is an emerging business area that will allow car manufacturers to provide a number of innovative solutions for consumer safety and security and information services, as well as voice communications. Automatic and manual emergency calls, roadside assistance, traffic information and route guidance are just a few of the services drivers can take advantage of using telematics products.
"Worldwide demand for wireless communications and the growing consumer need to connect the car to the outside world will drive demand for intelligent, automotive-based telematics products and services," said Kalevi Kaartinen, Vice President, Nokia Smart Traffic Products. "For the auto manufacturers, telematics is a way to differentiate and enhance customer loyalty. For the consumer, smart car telematics offer security and safety, reliability, convenience, entertainment and time savings."
Wireless-based telematics solutions provide consumers many advantages: the existing wireless network infrastructure provides nearly ubiquitous coverage over wide areas; the car terminal cost will be affordable enough to trigger volume demand; and services will be based on real-time location-specific information. With telematics, people on the move become "nodes on a network," receiving location-specific information wherever they are regardless of whether they receive it through the vehicle or a wireless communications device.
Nokia's Smart Traffic Products unit has been developing mobile communications and information solutions for the automotive industry in Europe since 1996, based on GSM, GPS and the Internet. Similarly, Protection One Mobile develops automotive-based telematics services for automotive manufacturers and consumers. The two companies will assist each other in the development of such products and services.
"We are extremely pleased to be entering this market with Nokia. As one of the premiere names in the wireless industry, we believe that Nokia will bring characteristic innovation and creativity to the development of telematics products and services, as they have in the wireless handset market," said Steve Millstein, president, Protection One Mobile Services Group. "We have had the philosophy that we need to be open in our approach; open to communications protocol, open to location technology and open to hardware platforms. In fact, our automotive customers insist on this. Nokia is an outstanding name to add to the list of hardware manufacturers that we support the delivery of emergency, information and navigation services to people in their cars or walking down the street."
Nokia and Protection One Mobile will also work on developing WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) applications for Smart Traffic Products as part of a broader effort to bring Internet access to vehicles.
Protection One Mobile Services Group (www.protectionone-mobile.com), headquartered near Dallas, is a division of Protection One(R) of Culver City, Calif. It provides leading-edge technology and professional response for the delivery of emergency, navigation, and information services in mobile applications. The company pioneered in-vehicle telematics in 1995 and is trailblazing telematics in wireless communications. NOTE: On June 28, 1999, Protection One Mobile Services Group agreed to be acquired by ATX Technologies Inc. of San Antonio. Closure of that agreement is pending and, once completed, will result in ATX Technologies becoming the industry leader in telematics.
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related services. It also supplies multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion (USD 15.7 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 51,000 people. Visit us at www.nokia.com.