Ithaca Energy Regulatory News (ITH)

11 Sep 2006 07:00

ITIS Holdings PLC11 September 2006 11th September 2006 ITIS SIGNS NEW LONG TERM CONTRACT WITH BMW, MINI AND ROLLS ROYCE UK FOR RDS-TMC TRAFFIC INFORMATION ITIS Holdings plc ("ITIS" or the "Company") is pleased to announce today that ithas renewed its RDS-TMC contract with BMW (including MINI and Rolls Roycebrands) for a further five and a half years until March 31st 2012. Thiscontract, which is ITIS' largest ever for TMC, commences with immediate effectand renews the contract originally signed with BMW in September 2003. ITIS willremain the exclusive provider of real time traffic information to BMW usingRDS-TMC and the length of this new deal will allow BMW and ITIS to work inpartnership to further develop traffic information services for BMW drivers. Carl Sanderson, General Manager, Product & Market Planning said "Since ITIS wereappointed as our traffic information provider for RDS-TMC three years ago, wehave worked together to ensure that BMW drivers receive the highest qualitytraffic data presented in the most usable and innovative format within theircar. Over the last few years ITIS have worked closely with BMW engineers inMunich to develop a fully integrated product and this new long term agreementwill enable us to develop new products together to ensure that both BMW and ITISremain the market leaders in this area. We have conducted ongoing testing of theservice and are completely satisfied that the traffic information which ITISsupplies meets all of our quality criteria whilst their understanding andexperience of TMC is significantly ahead of anyone else in this market. Coupledwith this we have had favourable feedback from customers and dealers regardingthe RDS-TMC service following a research study we recently undertook and nowwish to develop this service over the coming years." Stuart Marks, Chief Executive, ITIS Holdings plc, said "We are absolutelydelighted that BMW have not only chosen to renew their contract with ITIS butfor a period of time which will enable us to further advance the service for thebenefit of all BMW drivers both on the current platforms and new technology asthis becomes available. BMW clearly recognise the relevance and importance ofproviding Dynamic Route Guidance as an essential part of their navigationsolution and that high quality traffic data is the key element in this. Thiscontract renewal, along with others that we have recently announced, provesbeyond doubt that ITIS are the clear leaders in RDS-TMC. We will continue toinvest in this key area of our business for the benefit of BMW and all ourcustomers." - Ends - Note to Editors • 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 journalistic information 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. • ITIS traffic information is collated from a combination of journalistic and real-time sources using its own FVD network. The data is then transmitted 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. • 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 detection - 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) • 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