The GPS Insider

Don’t you love the drama? Less than a month after Tom Tom finalized a $2.5B bid for Tele Atlas, Garmin trumps with a $3.3B offer. This puts the Tele Atlas board in a very uncomfortable position. The strategic fit with Tom Tom is much stronger - both companies are based in the Netherlands and most of Tom Tom’s devices use TA data. But the board has a fiduciary responsibility to TA shareholders and would have no choice but to accept the new offer, if the bid is indeed apples to apples. On the other side of the table, Garmin almost exclusively uses Navteq data. I’m not sure how deeply integrated the data is, but it won’t be a trivial process to change horses. And here’s the kicker - Garmin won’t make the offer official until December 4th, the same say the Tom Tom bid expires.

How’s this for a possible soap opera: Tom Tom loses Tele Atlas and switches to Navteq for licensing data. Garmin gets TA, overpays and has a nice goodwill write-off in a few years. Nokia ends up the winner, despite a mammoth $8.1B price for Navteq, since mobile LBS is the future. Meanwhile, Google launches an open source mapping program that makes all of this consolidation seem laughable in hindsight. It could happen…

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Hot on the heels of a WiMAX collaboration with Clearwire, Sprint has partnered with Google “to bring WiMAX mobile Internet customers search, interactive communications and social networking tools though a new mobile portal. The collaboration between Sprint and Google will help spur new mobility and location-assisted services as Sprint untethers Internet access for consumers, businesses and government customers.” In simple terms: a Google homepage.

Here’s the best part: “Google and Sprint will optimize the Internet experience for the digital lifestyle,” said Barry West, president, 4G Mobile Broadband for Sprint. Yeah, ’cause I love my 1s and 0s. And didn’t Google already optimize it?

Google is focusing heavily on location-based services because better targeted ads equal higher CPMs. These location-based services inevitably mean maps, and the content cost will squeeze Google’s margins as its commitment to LBS grows. I would think a Google counteroffer for Tele Atlas or an acquisition of Navteq makes sense before they head too far down this road.

Read the press release

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Spain’s federal traffic authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), is considering fines for drivers caught programming a GPS navigation unit while driving. The DGT recently launched a media campaign to warn drivers about the hazards of distractions while driving, such as smoking, talking on a mobile phone, or programming a GPS navigation unit. In 2006, the DGT estimates such distractions figured in 30 percent of traffic accidents. During the summer that percentage typically rises to nearly 50 percent. The campaign cites Navteq estimates that some 1.3 million portable navigation units were sold in Spain during 2006. If the driver is distracted while programming a navigation unit—DGT suggests that this process can take as long as 30 seconds—traffic conditions can quickly change and result in a major accident.

Following the launch of this media campaign warning Spanish drivers about distractions, the head of the DGT, Pere Navarro, said that the DGT is considering a policy of fining drivers €300 ($415) and the loss of three driving points if caught programming a navigation unit while driving, according to Spanish media reports.

Navarro also said the DGT has corresponded with the makers of navigation units, asking them to be designed so that they could not be programmed while the vehicle is in motion. He acknowledged that it would take time for the industry to respond, and that in the meantime the fines would suffice.

[DGT press release: warning PDF]

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Personal navigation device (PND) maker TomTom made an announcement this morning about plans to acquire Tele Atlas, the #2 provider of digital map data. TomTom said it would pay 21.25 euros ($29.33) per share for the Netherlands-based Tele Atlas. The offer was a 28 percent premium to Tele Atlas’ closing price on Friday. TomTom is the world’s leading PND manufacturer, with market share in Europe of just under 50 percent and around 20 percent in the United States.

Tele Atlas has deals to provide map data to TomTom, Qualcomm and Nokia, while Garmin, Google, Yahoo and AOL’s MapQuest use mostly Navteq. But the bigger companies use at least some information from both, and analysts say they have an interest in ensuring neither Navteq nor Tele Atlas becomes too dominant at geo-mapping information.

This show isn’t over yet - some analysts commented that TomTom’s offer is low and that a counteroffer could come from someone like Google. Navteq, the leading provider of map data, is considered an unlikely bidder for anti-competitive reasons. Tele Atlas management supports the deal and is talking to shareholders, but a tiny breakup fee of €20 million ($27.6M) could make them change their tune if something better comes along.

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David Watkins, Multimedia Sales Director Nokia APAC, told ZDNet Australia that GPS will work its way from niche to mainstream and will one day be as ubiquitous as the cameraphone.

“GPS is not just for technology leaders or people juggling their life, it’s really for anyone,” Watkins said. “It’s a trend you will be seeing more of.” The next wave of GPS-enabled Nokia phones are expected to be announced this September.

Read the ZDNet article

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