Mobile monitoring for Japan’s traffic jams

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, will use location data from its 61.5 million subscriber devices to build a platform that monitors traffic conditions across the country. DoCoMo said it will use its access to massive amounts of location data to build a cloud platform of traffic information on which services can be built. The company will target individual consumers with products like navigation and drive recording services, and corporate clients such as car insurance companies with traffic monitor
May 14, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
7342 NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, will use location data from its 61.5 million subscriber devices to build a platform that monitors traffic conditions across the country.

DoCoMo said it will use its access to massive amounts of location data to build a cloud platform of traffic information on which services can be built. The company will target individual consumers with products like navigation and drive recording services, and corporate clients such as car insurance companies with traffic monitoring and analysis.

The company is to invest US$500 million to take a seven per cent share in struggling Japanese electronics manufacturer Pioneer as part of the effort. Pioneer is a major manufacturer of car navigation products, and already uses DoCoMo's networks for wireless services in its systems. The firms will aim to begin rolling out new services together from this year.

Pioneer recently announced a new car navigation system it will launch this summer that automatically snaps images at popular driving spots and shares them among drivers in real-time to provide information on road conditions.
Networking & Communication Systems Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Legislation will drive market for telematics systems in Europe, Russia
    December 5, 2012
    According to a new report from Frost and Sullivan, the European automotive navigation market will witness a shift towards integration and a continual trend towards low-cost connected navigation, which will become a commodity. With Smartphone replication technologies, Smartphone-based navigation inside cars will dominate the market, serving all car segments. The eCall in Europe and ERA-GLONASS in Russia, which mandate automated emergency response systems in vehicles, will lead to Europe becoming one of the b
    Read More
  • Intelligent parking guidance relieves congestion, reduces costs
    July 24, 2012
    O R Tambo International Airport, near the city of Johannesburg, is the largest airport in Africa. It serves as the primary airport for domestic and international travel to/from South Africa and is one of 10 airports operated by Airports Company South Africa (ACSA). This airport places a massive demand on road infrastructure and parking facilities since a majority of travellers get to the airport by motor vehicle. The demand for parking left many people searching for a parking space for eight minutes or more
    Read More
  • Assessing the potential of in-vehicle enforcement systems
    December 4, 2012
    Jason Barnes considers the social and ethical ramifications of using in-vehicle safety technologies to fulfil enforcement functions. Although policy documents often imply close correlation between enforcement, compliance and safety – in part, as a counter to accusations that enforcement is rather more concerned with revenue generation – there is a noticeable reluctance among policy makers and auto manufacturers to exploit in-vehicle safety systems for enforcement applications. From a technical perspective t
    Read More
  • The case for integrating urban traffic control and parking
    February 3, 2012
    Although urban traffic control and parking management are inextricably linked in so many ways, there remain fundamental differences which undermine closer integration. Car parking guidance systems can have a significant, positive impact on congestion in town and city centres, however conflicting business models still stand in the way of the more profound integration of car parking management and Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems.
    Read More

Highlighted Content