CHICAGO, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, today announced the establishment of a Global Production Center, located in Mumbai. The Production Center has a current workforce of over 400 workers and expects to employ 600 when fully staffed. The Center supports both local and global production projects. This is NAVTEQ's first Production Center in Asia Pacific and is the largest worldwide for NAVTEQ. NAVTEQ opened a global Research & Development Center in Mumbai last year.

"Asia Pacific is rapidly introducing location-aware devices and applications with significant growth potential. India plays a strategic role in shaping NAVTEQ developments throughout Asia," stated Rich Shuman, NAVTEQ senior vice president, Asia Pacific sales. "Leveraging the talent and opportunities in India enables NAVTEQ to provide the high quality map data our customers require worldwide as well as in India."

The Production Center is the largest of its kind for NAVTEQ which has production centers around the world. Its operations and procedures will be consistent with those used globally so that multiple production centers can work seamlessly on the same project. The majority of employees at the center will be geocoders. Employees will work on local, regional and global projects and will focus on maintaining and updating NAVTEQ maps in 77 countries and territories. Work done at the center is expected to accelerate production capacity and productivity for the company worldwide.

"NAVTEQ is enormously proud to have the broadest footprint for high quality turn by turn navigation in the Indian market today," emphasized Greg Edwards, vice president, digital mapping operations. "The current NAVTEQ map of India covers over 628,000 km throughout the country and has navigable coverage for 84 major cities with over 1.4 million Points of Interest (POIs). India offers the right balance of people and technology to enhance our ability to provide the highest quality map worldwide."

"India is one of the world's fastest growing economies and a global hub for technology. Convergence of Mobile GPS devices and growth in smartphones in India has created demand for low cost, high quality navigation," said Rajat Tandon, director, India sales. "While awareness of navigation is relatively low in India versus other APAC markets, India consumers and enterprises increasingly realize the need for accurate GPS solutions that can save time and money while making it easier to find your way around. Our analysis shows there is huge potential to provide unique navigation solutions for India."

NAVTEQ data is a widely recognized and trusted name in the digital mapping industry. From turn restrictions to relative road crossing heights, every road segment captured in the NAVTEQ database has up to 260 data attributes, such as access restrictions, one-way streets and speed categories to help optimize navigation. Additionally, the NAVTEQ database includes Points of Interest (POIs) in approximately 50 categories globally including restaurants, gas stations, hotels and banks, making it easier to locate and route to desired destinations.

In addition to its production centers, NAVTEQ has ~1,000 geographic analysts located around the world. NAVTEQ geographic analysts drive the roads, verifying and updating information in the NAVTEQ database. This in-depth "human factor" delivers data consistent with real world conditions and results in a multi-faceted and comprehensive product. To date, there are more than 17 million miles (or approximately 27.6 million kilometers) of roadway represented in the NAVTEQ database.

About NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital map information to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,400 employees located in 192 offices and in 43 countries.

NAVTEQ is a trademark in the U.S. and other countries.

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SOURCE NAVTEQ

Web site: http://www.navteq.com/