Pacific Access-Webraska Alliance Paves the Way for Web and Wireless Location and Navigation

Pacific Access, producers of Yellow Pages(R)OnLine, White Pages(TM)OnLine and leading location and navigation brand, Whereis(TM), announced an alliance with global wireless location and navigation solutions provider, Webraska, enabling the provision of real-time location and navigation services via the Internet.

Webraska will provide the technology platform to allow Pacific Access' geographic data and database content to be delivered to these applications as well as - in the longer term - wireless applications, including WAP technology and PDA applications.

Pacific Access General Manager, Strategy and Business Development, Mr Greg Ellis, said the agreement with Webraska would allow Pacific Access to move forward with significant location and navigation developments.

"We believe real-time, online location, navigation and routing will lead the way in Internet and wireless developments and Pacific Access has invested significant resources into this area. The alliance with Webraska will help move this part of our business forward.

"The Whereis(TM)OnLine site will be the first place users will see some of the real possibilities in Internet location and navigation. In the second half of this year, our Whereis(TM)OnLine site will include full `turn-by-turn' navigation, including one way streets, turn restrictions, u-turn points on divided roads and many other attributes. The site will also include a range of other services, such as a Whereis Traffic function, which will let users look up the latest traffic information in their area and check traffic conditions and incident reports, with tools to find the nearest taxi, automatic teller machine and restaurant.

"We are also moving forward with plans to support mobile telephone and other wireless applications, working with Telstra's OnAir division and other mobile phone carriers to provide location content and infrastructure to support their mobile telephones.

"Importantly, we'll also combine our navigation data with applications from the Webraska technology platform to allow our customers to location enable their content or services. For example, providing the capability for our customers to build a location finder on their sites, so their customers can pinpoint all their locations," he said.

Webraska Chief Operating Officer, Jamie Macdonald, said the deal represented one of the most significant alliances the business had undertaken.

"We are delighted to have been chosen by Pacific Access as they move away from custom development over traditional GIS systems towards a dedicated ultra-fast multi-access navigation and location-enabling platform. By using Webraska's reliable, market proven open technology and expertise in wireless internet service creation, and combining them with its own outstanding assets in quality mapping and Yellow Pages(R)OnLine, Pacific Access is positioning itself to become a dominant player in location-based services in Asia Pacific.

The growing community of Webraska on-line developers will also be pleased to know that this exceptional agreement will allow them to launch their applications in a key market such as Australia," he added.

Pacific Access' Whereis mapping data was developed based on a combination of UBD(TM) maps and direct collection of navigation information. It is the most up-to-date and accurate Australian mapping and navigation database. It is used on the Whereis(TM) OnLine site, and is the only data used by `In Car' navigation systems in Australia.

Mr Ellis said a key part of Pacific Access' location and navigation strategy was to link its Yellow Pages and White Pages directories with the geographic databases.

"Linking our geographic and directory databases will allow users of Internet and wireless technology to locate businesses in Australia, find out the proximity of that business to their current location, and also find the most appropriate route to that business by either car or public transport. It is an exciting development, and one we believe will increase the relevance and importance of wireless applications. Today's agreement brings us another step closer to our goal of becoming the prime source of location enabling web and wireless applications," he said.

The Webraska alliance will also support an improved ASP (Application Service Provider) solution, allowing Australian web sites to simply add mapping and routing functionality so their users can look for a `Where is the nearest' type feature to assist them in finding their closest store or retail outlet, for example. The Whereis ASP solution, Custom Connect, uses the Webraska functionality packaged with the Whereis navigable maps and allows a map, routing and proximity search to be seamlessly embedded within web sites, giving the user the perception that it is part of the site. This capability also allows corporate customers to provide field staff with routing to the next job or customer through the use of a low cost mobile phone in conjunction with Whereis(TM)Custom Connect.

A location application for call centres is also available allowing call centres to generate directions to assist callers find a specific location. The directions can then be provided direct or sent to the customers mobile phone as an SMS message.


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