London, 8 June, 2011 – Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), the leading telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, and Telmap, pioneers in mobile location solutions, received a “Global Telecoms Business Innovation Award” for their MTS Navigator App last night at a ceremony in London. The two companies’ contribution to “Consumer Service Innovation” was recognized before industry representatives gathered to “honour innovative projects involving telecoms operators and service providers around the world.”
Telmap provides white label, hosted and managed mobile location-based services to mobile operators, enabling them to create differentiated services that bring relevant location information to customers.
Launched in January 2011, MTS Navigator became the most downloaded free app in the Russian AppStore within 24 hours of its debut. It features in-car and pedestrian mode GPS-based navigation, complete with 3D moving maps, voice instructions with street name articulation, and thousands of points of interest including restaurants, bars and hotels. The Russian language enabled service delivers free real-time traffic data to MTS subscribers on the MTS 840 and 916 devices as well as to the iPhone.
Marc Sommer, MTS Director for Products and Services commented, “We are honoured to receive this award for the MTS Navigator. This truly global project is a result of cooperation between Telmap, Russia-based- MTS and our partner Vodafone. We have also partnered with Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, to add real-time traffic data. This breed of world-class technology and local expertise made it a hit among Russian consumers. We will continue to work on this service expanding its reach to many more of our subscribers, offering it on additional devices, adding comprehensive local information.”
Oren Nissim, Telmap CEO said, “We are delighted to be recognized for the second year in a row at the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards for the advancements we bring to mobile location-based services. Telmap is focused on delivering its vision, answering all users’ needs while on-the-go, which requires that we identify those needs and carefully design a service that will provide easy-to-use access to local, social and relevant information all from one place; the Telmap Mobile Location Companion. We are very happy that the service is successful and highly valued by MTS subscribers.”
About Global Telecom Business Awards
The Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards are organized by the Global Telecoms Business publication which is read by the industry leaders in the telecommunications industry worldwide and is part of the Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC group. The Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards were first presented in 2007, at a dinner attended by 160 industry leaders from around the world. In 2011 the awards attracted more than twice that number of people. Guests at the ceremony included chief executive officers, chief technology officers and other leaders from operators and vendors throughout the world, including Europe, China, Africa, India, Russia, North and South America, and the Pacific.
Hundreds of nominations for the industry’s innovative projects were received from the readers of Global Telecoms Business since early in 2011 in a number of key categories. More details can be found here: www.globaltelecomsbusiness.com/Stub/InnovationAwards2011.html
“Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners and to Mobile TeleSystems and Telmap for the MTS Navigator”, Said Alan Burkitt-Gray, editor of Global Telecoms Business. “This is a sure sign the industry is working harder and harder to deliver exciting and innovative services to customers worldwide. We’ve seen a greater number of nominations for services directly aimed at businesses and consumers, designed to give them better services and make their lives easier”.
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About MTS
Mobile TeleSystems OJSC ("MTS") is the leading telecommunications group in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, offering mobile and fixed voice, broadband, pay TV as well as content and entertainment services in one of the world’s fastest growing regions. Including its subsidiaries, the Group services over 105.0 million mobile subscribers in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia and Belarus, a region that boasts a total population of more than 230 million. Since June 2000, MTS’ Level 3 ADRs have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MBT).
Additional information about MTS can be found at www.mtsgsm.com.
About Telmap
Telmap is a world leader in mobile location-based services that are fully designed to open new business opportunities and generate new revenue streams. The company has established a solid reputation for providing its customers with innovative, value added end-to-end mobile location based services that enrich on-the-go experiences through integration of local content, community interactions, and relevant retail offers.
Telmap’s flagship product is the world’s first personalized Mobile Location Companion integrating innovative and patented technologies including Telmap Active Interface, Telmap Active Search and Telmap Active Widgets. A complementary web companion is also available, as well as a robust location platform with a set of APIs to support Telmap customers in delivering a strong LBS strategy.
Telmap is the #1 provider of choice for mobile location-based services and its technology has been selected by leading industry players such as Orange FT Group, Vodafone, Vodacom, SFR, O2, Telefonica, SingTel, OPTUS, Cellcom, Pelephone, and more.
For more information, please visit www.telmap.com, or look for the Telmap page on Facebook.