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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
'London Taxi Point': Black Cabs at you fingertips for mobile users
5000 London Taxi Points and 4000 black cabs allow mobile users to text and book the nearest available cab, night or day.
28 July 2003: Anyone who has struggled to find a black cab in London will soon be able to locate the nearest available taxi and book it, all using SMS. With SMS connectivity supplied by Netsize, London's new Taxi Point service removes the need to wait on the street searching for a cab. Instead, customers can use one of the new 'Taxi Points' - actual signs that use a unique four-digit code to identify an exact location within central London. People wishing to use the service text the location code to the London Taxi Point short code (83220). Using GPS tracking, the service will identify and book the nearest black cab from the participating taxi fleets, delivering a confirmation SMS, and an alert when the taxi has arrived.
The service will cost the user £1 and Taxi Point signs will be positioned in locations such as public and private buildings, restaurants, theatres and bars. More than 5000 Taxi Point locations will be created in London over the next three years.
The service has been launched by application developer The Location Network in partnership with Xeta Cabs, a member of the London Taxi Network (LTN). Netsize will manage all SMS traffic through its SMS Gateway where it will be routed between the booking application and the customer's mobile network, delivering UK cross network connectivity. The technical platform has been supplied by eTX (UK) Ltd. The scheme has been developed in accordance with Transport for London's objectives to ensure safe, reliable transport for London's residents, workers and visitors and will be of particular use to tourists who may not know the name of their current location.
"Many existing location-based systems use cell ID technology to locate an individual based on the position of the handset against base stations. However many of these systems are can be inherently flawed," explains Craig Barrack, UK Country Manager for Netsize. "In a highly dense urban environment such as central London, a single cell can cover many buildings and may not be accurate enough for such a service. The Location Networks' solution is to use physical signs, leaving no doubt as to the customer's precise location."
"We hope to have over 4000 participating taxis by the end of 2003, making London Taxi Point the quickest, easiest way to get a taxi while on the move in London. The scale of the project meant we needed to work with partners such as Netsize and eTX, whose solutions and experience are ideally matched to the launch of a high volume consumer service such as this," says David Ward-Perkins, CEO of The Location Network.
"London Taxi Point has the potential to be a real break-through in the way we use taxis. eTX offers the technology to develop, support and host multiple transaction-oriented applications that can meet rapidly changing business requirements without the cost associated with a traditional software approach. From small-footprint embedded systems to enterprise systems with millions of transactions per day, eTX's multi-model platform is used in retail, telecoms and transport applications," finishes Declan Pettit of eTX.
London Taxi Point is currently live with plans to rollout the service in other UK cities.
For more information about Netsize and the London Taxi Point Service, please contact tim@mustardpr.com to arrange an interview with Craig Barrack, UK Country Manager for Netsize. Images available on request.
In order for mobile services such as London Taxi Point to succeed, mobile networks need to be easily accessible by third party service providers. Offering direct connectivity to over 60 mobile operators worldwide, Netsize has helped over 800 customers deploy services that allow subscribers to exchange messages and content across different networks and services.
About Netsize
The Netsize Group, with a turnover of over ?40m in 2002 is the European leader for customised solutions for enabling mobile business and entertainment. Netsize helps companies to implement wireless services aimed at maximising revenues, improving brand awareness and optimising business efficiency. Netsize offers its customers direct network connectivity and premium mobile billing access to over 60 mobile operators worldwide supported by a catalogue of value added mobile applications and content.
Netsize enables its customers and partners to launch services globally with local technical, marketing and billing support along with peripheral back office services like third party billing, online traffic statistics, multi lingual customer service help desks, white label content and digital rights management. Netsize enables the delivery of mobile content and applications over SMS, MMS, Java, Browsing and voice Channels. Mobile services include premium content, multimedia solutions, interactive mass media applications, access to business applications, telematics, mobile marketing solutions and other customised applications.
Netsize operates in 11 European countries and is currently expanding in to Central Europe, Latin and North America, Asia, Africa and Middle Eastern countries. Netsize relies on its large team of highly trained professionals located around the globe who are ready to attend to your individual business needs. Since its foundation in 1998, Netsize has set up and managed mobile services for more than 800 customers. For more information visit www.netsize.com.
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