'We have successfully weathered Google-Nokia storm'

CALIFORNIA, USA: Mobile navigation software maker Telmap believes it has successfully weathered the storm that hit the sector in 2009-2010 when first Google and then Nokia launched free services.

Telmap, which offers location-based services to provide details on traffic data, speed cameras and local offerings, said the industry had been rocked when the two technology giants launched free navigation to boost handset sales.

"The market went into a shock," Chief Marketing Officer Motti Kushnir told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Paris. "Everyone wondered what was going to happen. Everyone felt the market would close."

"Google are growing, they're a great competitor but they're finding out it is one thing to show maps and another thing to navigate people ... it's only on Android, you can't get it on other devices and I think the entire impact is less.

"We haven't lost a single customer."

Telmap has adapted to the change in the market by moving away from its subscription business to offer services through telecom operators such as Vodafone and Telefonica.

The group said it was now profitable and growing both revenues and customers.

"In the context of location, there are three things you need. You've got to have the right product, the right business model and the right source of distribution," Chief Executive Oren Nissim said.

"What is key is local knowledge. When you want to appeal to the needs of a local crowd, it's got to be a lot more local and this is the sweet spot where Telmap works. We know how to drive better content aggregation and present the user with a local application as opposed to just a navigation engine."