Webraska Guides Belgian WAP Subscribers of Proximus/Belgacom Mobile
6 April 2000
Webraska Guides Belgian WAP Subscribers of Proximus/Belgacom Mobile
BRUSSELS, Belgium--April 6, 2000--Webraska Mobile Technologies-- World's first tramway itineraries on WAP
-- Webraska to offer zoomable street-level maps
Webraska Mobile Technologies announces today that it has been chosen by leading mobile telephony operator Proximus/Belgacom Mobile to provide multi-lingual navigation, maps and proximity information services to Internet mobile phone subscribers in Belgium.
Using WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technologies, Webraska's services will provide door-to-door car, foot, or public transport itineraries covering the whole of Belgium beginning on 17 April 2000. The services will also locate nearest public interest facilities such as car parks, hospitals, tourist attractions, etc., and guide users to them.
For the first time in WAP, tramway itineraries will be included in the service and cover the cities of Brussels, Gent and Antwerpen. Additionally, Webraska will provide zoomable street-level maps of any address in Belgium as well as turn-by-turn maps for all its navigation services.
The services will be available in French, Flemish and English and cover over 111,000 km of the country's roads as well as 6,000 facilities.
"We are extremely proud to bring our services to Proximus and its subscribers as well as add a fifth country to our European coverage. Our objective is to work with operators to make our services available to all mobile telephony subscribers, regardless of the country the are in and the terminal they use", commented Jean-Michel Durocher, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Webraska.
"With this new offering, Proximus/Belgacom Mobile brings to its customers a wealth of functionalities designed to facilitate their everyday life. A service that guides its users to their destination is a very good example of how mobile phones have evolved into much more than just means of communications, they are now sources of information and assistance to users wherever they are", stated Philippe Vander Putten, CEO of Proximus/Belgacom Mobile.
About Webraska
Webraska is the leading global provider of Internet-based real-time traffic, maps and location-based personal navigation services for wireless Internet devices. Webraska's goal is to offer a world-wide, up-to-date, person-based and flexible alternative to CD/DVD-ROM car-centric navigation systems. Using its revolutionary patented Internet-based Distributed Navigation, Webraska provides operators with a range of value-added services helping increase customer loyalty and revenues by addressing basic mobility needs such as: "Where am I?, How do I get to my destination by car, public transport or on foot?, Where is the nearest available parking space?, Which is the shortest route?, Can you guide me safely to my destination?". Originally developed in partnership with leading French mobile telephony operator SFR, Webraska's services are built on carrier-grade quality digital map servers designed to support millions of subscribers. Services include WAP access, Java-based call-centre interfaces, XML queries for IVR systems, SMS connectivity, Internet personalisation, support and visualisation. Webraska's services are available to subscribers of SFR in France, KPN in the Netherlands and Proximus/ Belgacom Mobile in Belgium. Webraska has also established partnerships with Trafficmaster in the UK, ADAC in Germany, Schlumberger, Tele Atlas, Peugeot, Vivendi, Alcatel, Phone.com and In Fusio. The company is headquartered in Poissy, France and has offices in the UK, Belgium and Spain. For more information visit www.webraska.com
About Proximus
Established in 1994, Proximus/Belgacom Mobile is Belgium's leading mobile telephony operator. Each day, over 2 million subscribers benefit from the first dual-band 900-1800 Mhz network in Belgium, covering over 98% of the population, in the open air, in cars, indoors and in stations and tunnels in the Brussels metro. For more information: www.proximus.be