NAVTEQ Corporation - Introduction

Introduction

222 Merchandise Mart, Suite 900
Chicago, Illinois 60654-1105
U.S.A.
Telephone: (312) 894-7000
Toll Free: (888) 628-6277
Fax: (312) 894-7050
Web site: http://www.navteq.com

Public Company
Incorporated: 1985 as Karlin & Collins, Inc.
Employees: 1,411
Sales: $272.6 million (2003)
Stock Exchanges: New York
Ticker Symbol: NVT
NAIC: 541370 Surveying and Mapping (Except Geophysical) Services

NAVTEQ Corporation (Navteq) is a Chicago-based company that provides the digital map information used by Internet mapping services, automotive navigation systems, and mobile navigation devices. Navteq builds its database from the streets up, rather than taking the approach tried by others reliant on government sources supplemented by geometric extrapolation. Navteq employs hundreds of field researchers to drive every street, back alley, and dead-end lane, keeping track of some 160 road attributes, including speed limits and turn restrictions. Territories are also periodically revisited to keep track of changes. All told, Navteq's database includes coverage of 40 countries on four continents, at different levels of detail, covering 8.7 million miles of roadways. In the United States and Canada, where the company offers the most detailed information, Navteq covers 5.4 million miles of roadways. Navteq is looking to move beyond mere digital maps to interfacing them with traffic information, which can then be delivered to vehicles using the XM Satellite Radio service, allowing drivers to avoid traffic jams. Navteq is a public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange.