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Route66 demonstrates the power of location-based services using S60 in 3 Italia's network

Do you think Italian road traffic is sometimes chaotic? Ever been lost in Rome or in Tuscany? Well, 3 Italia - the Mobile Media Company owned by Hutchison Whampoa Group and UMTS leader in Europe - can help with a unique navigation solution including the Route66 application, a Nokia GPS device and the Nokia 6680, N70 and the new E61 smartphone running S60 software.

A navigation package including all the components needed to turn an S60 smartphone into a navigator allows 3 Italia to offer a differentiated value proposition to its customers. Furthermore, offering a solution package based around S60 smartphones also allows operators to increase the average sales price of a device, as users perceive its value as going far beyond a pure voice communication terminal. Thanks to a deal with 'Route66', a Dutch company specializing in satellite navigation systems and geographic localization, 3 Italia is able to offer its customers the Italian maps right down to building number. With Route66 it is possible to avoid queues, downloading the info about the traffic also during the travel.

"Offering a solution package around navigation to our business customers has allowed us to differentiate yet again with an innovative offering in the highly competitive Italian market. Not only the volumes of navigation solution packages sold, but also the extremely positive feedback from our business users in terms of getting started with this navigation solution showed us that selling additional applications on top of S60 devices is an attractive value proposition", says Mr Daniele Ottier, Marketing Director; Business Division at 3 Italia.

Since the launch of this satellite navigation solution in December 2005, thousands of 3 Italy's customers have made use of the offer. Route66 is available now also for S60 3rd edition. You can find more info on Route66 at www.66.com ยป.