NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of digital map data for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions, has announced the release of four new countries in southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland.
With the addition of these countries, NAVTEQ’s coverage in the southern Africa region has increased to over 450,000 km of road network. The NAVTEQ(R) Map now includes 166 cities with areas of Detailed Coverage, NAVTEQ’s highest specification, meaning that its full set of over 200 road attributes have been applied and verified.
The number of foreign tourists to the area has doubled over a ten year period with many of them arriving in South Africa as their point of origin into the region. NAVTEQ’s latest coverage provides connector roads from these countries to South Africa’s full coverage map.
Mary Hardwick, NAVTEQ Vice President of Product Management for Europe, Middle East and Africa, sees the additional NAVTEQ coverage as an asset to this growing industry. "Our customers have asked us to provide coverage from the major cities in the region to the major tourist attractions such as game parks. Because these new countries are built using our global database specification, customers will be able to more easily develop regional navigation applications."
"The inclusion of over 29,000 Points of Interest, including petrol stations is particularly valuable in rural areas," stated Alastair Protheroe NAVTEQ, Director of Product Marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa. "Knowing in advance the location of petrol stations along your route, enables pre-planning and eliminates some of the apprehension of traveling into remote, unfamiliar areas."
NAVTEQ provided the first automotive-grade navigable map of South Africa in 2002. The company expanded the map to full coverage in 2006.