Press release

Multimap Delivers Interactive Maps as Part of Optus’s 3G Launch

05 February 2006

Multimap, one of the world’s leading online mapping providers, today announced the deployment of its mapping solution for Optus, an Australian leader in telecommunications. This is the first time that an international mobile telecommunications company has benefited from Multimap’s expertise in location-enabled solutions development and Microsoft’s MapPoint Web Service Platform Technology for 3G phones.
The new mapping and location-based services offered to Optus’s 3G customers — called the FindA services — are easy-to-use and enable customers to:
  • view a map of their approximate current location with zoom in/out and pan N,S,E,W functionality on their mobile phone screen – the ‘FindMe’ service;
  • search for an address by street name, suburb, postcode or landmark, and access an interactive map pinpointing its exact location – the ‘FindPlace’ service;
  • access step-by-step travel directions to a specified address (either from their current location or an otherwise specified one) – the ‘Directions’ service; and
  • search for businesses & retail locations near their approximate location or entered address – the ‘FindNearby’ service.
According to Chris Lane, Group Director Products & Delivery, Optus Consumer, “We are very pleased to be working with Multimap and Microsoft to offer our customers comprehensive location-based services. The deployment forms part of our commitment to bring top-notch technology and content to our 3G customers. The ease of use, reliability and accuracy of the FindA services make this an extremely useful tool for our customers.”
 
Microsoft and Multimap have been working together for a number of years to accelerate the delivery of solutions based on the Microsoft® MapPoint® Web Service. As part of their worldwide partnership, Multimap has added Microsoft’s MapPoint Web Service to its service portfolio for Australia, providing customers and prospects with a broader range of services to be integrated into applications and business processes.
 
”MapPoint Web Services are aimed at enabling businesses and third-party software developers to easily and cost-effectively deploy location-based solutions and applications. This builds on our initial work and we’re pleased to be part of bringing location-based services to Australian 3G users,” said Mark Leigh, Industry Manager, Communications Sector, Microsoft Australia.
Chris Warrick, Managing Director of Multimap Australasia, said, “Working with Microsoft gives our customers a greater choice of services and content. The combination of Multimap’s strong solution development and project-management skills and MapPoint Web Service’s guaranteed high performance and availability gives us a powerful proposition, and we’re delighted to extend the benefits of it to Optus’s 3G customers. Location-based services are forming an increasingly crucial part of the 3G content mix and Multimap is delighted to be Optus’s chosen partner in this arena.”
-ENDS-
About Multimap
Multimap is one of the world’s leading providers of mapping and location-based services. The company delivers more online maps, point-to-point driving directions and geo-spatial ("where's my nearest?") searches to more companies than any other supplier in Europe. All services are offered on mobile, PDA, kiosk, and interactive TV platforms and in multiple languages.
The public website, www.multimap.com, provides a range of free, useful services to assist with everyday life. Key features include street-level maps of Europe, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia; road maps of the world; door-to-door travel directions; aerial photographs; links to location information; and services such as hotel, restaurant and entertainment booking. The public site attracts over 10 million unique users, registers more than 190 million page impressions every month, and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the UK. Multimap recently featured in The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 league table of fastest-growing unquoted UK companies across all sectors, as well as in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league of fastest-growing unquoted UK technology companies for the third year running.
In the Australian and New Zealand markets, leading companies including Wotif.com, Flight Centre.com.au, PropertyLook.com, eHound, aussiehome.com, Commercial Real Estate and Colliers International New Zealand, have selected Multimap as their online mapping partner. They tell us that our location-based services not only offer rich content that enhances the user's experience of their sites, but that they also drive people to their real-world locations. Increased footfall through the doors translates easily and quickly to growth in sales.
 
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.
 
Microsoft and MapPoint are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
 
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
 
For more information on MapPoint, visit the virtual pressroom
Website: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/mappoint/default.asp
 
About Optus
Optus is an Australian leader in integrated communications - serving more than six million customers each day. The company provides a broad range of communications services including mobile, national and long distance services, local telephony, international telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and subscription television. In 2001, SingTel became the parent company of Optus, paving the way for Optus to become a strong and strategic telecommunications player within the Asia-Pacific region. For more information please visit  www.optus.com.au/aboutoptus