Navigation maps provider, Tom Tom has announced a partnership with Vodafone Portugal to launch its High Definition (HD) Traffic platform - which uses mobile phones to monitor traffic delays - in the country. TomTom expects to launch this service in Portugal in the second half of 2009.

“Traffic issues continue to be a cause of major concern in Portugal, yet to date there has not been any kind of traffic solution available to drivers in Portugal,” says Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s chief executive officer. “HD Traffic will be Portugal’s first ever traffic offering and it will provide customers with the most accurate arrival and delay times that are constantly updated to reflect the current traffic situation. It also provides us with the technology platform to bring additional connected navigation services, such as Local Search with Google and mobile safety camera reporting to drivers in Portugal.”

The technology behind HD Traffic uses anonymously collected and processed traffic data generated by the movement patterns of mobile phones in cars, via the Vodafone Portugal network. This data will be combined with anonymous data from connected TomTom devices. TomTom will also look at including government data on the causes of accidents and delays, as well as traffic flow data generated from local fleet companies.

Every three minutes a new update of the HD Traffic information is immediately transferred directly to TomTom devices.

Furthermore, it will give customers a live overview of traffic throughout Portugal, so they can check the traffic situation before they set off on their journey or re-route in advance to stay on the smartest route.

TomTom’s HD Traffic is already live in the Netherlands, the UK and France and will launch in Germany and Switzerland within a couple of weeks.

Source:cellular-news