Companies wait on mapping changes

Companies that provide mapping services are assessing RTA’s new addressing system for the emirate of Dubai.

Instead of focusing on district names, Dubai’s new Addressing & Directional Signs System will use building and street names, dividing the city into zones. It’s currently being tried out in the residential zones of Jumeirah 3 and surrounding areas between the second and fourth interchange of Sheikh Zayed Road.

While the addressing system is expected to bring about a massive change, Google says that it’s too early to comment on how the system will influence its popular map service in the region

Nokia, on the other hand, has confirmed that there won’t be any immediate changes evident on their Nokia Maps application.

“There is no immediate effect of the new system on our maps,” said Mohamed El Sheakh, business manager of Services and Software at Nokia MEA. “There is a close cooperation between our maps provider Navteq and the RTA. We will look into the new system as the RTA completes the project across the UAE.”Navteq also operates the Map24 brand in more than ten countries, including the UAE.

HTC handsets, which are bundled with Co-pilot Live Software and Navteq maps, believes that “the impact will not be major” according to Charbel Dib, Technical Manager at HTC Corporation, adding that the company will “make sure this new system is made available to HTC customers when it is officially launched.”

Jointech, which sells around 1,000 units of its GPS navigational systems in the GCC, is also tracking the situation. “We will offer the updated map and just need to update our database,” confirmed Ahmed Ali Malik, regional manager of JoinTech. Adding that they will “wait a little more to see how the trial goes.”