Navigon has launched its personal navigation devices (PNDs) in SA, offering a lifetime subscription to traffic services.
The German company has officially established a local presence with the local release of three PNDs: the N70 Premium, N40 Premium and N40 Easy. All three models are traffic-enabled, with the Premium models including a lifetime subscription in the box. The Easy model is enabled for traffic, and a subscription is a once-off payment of R500.
TomTom and Garmin introduced their traffic-enabled devices earlier this year. TomTom's traffic service runs on a cellular data network and the subscription is R499 a year. Garmin's traffic system runs on the same radio data system (RDS) as Navigon, but it charges R299 a year for access to this service.
Mark Forbes, the local representative for Navigon AG, says that the decision to go with this payment model was a high-level decision.
“In our transaction with the data provider, we wanted a partner for life,” says Forbes of the partnership with the traffic service provider, Altech Netstar.
He also adds that according to Navigon's calculations, it is a sustainable model. Each device's price includes a license cost to access the traffic information system.
Garmin also gets data from Altech Netstar. Chris Crozier, CTO at Garmin SA, says: “We may well be offering lifetime traffic subscriptions on some models in future, though at this stage we do not envisage it being across the board.”
Crozier adds: “A service like this has to be paid for somewhere, and it would be na"ive of anyone to think they get it free. The cost of delivering live traffic will be covered somehow, either hidden in the cost of the device, or offset by, for example, advertising delivered to the user.”
The Navigon system does not rely on advertising.
TomTom's system is fundamentally different, since it requires fees to be paid to the cellular networks for data transfer. The TomTom Live service has two-way communication and offers Google searching and weather functions on its devices. It has been using this system since 2008.
TomTom also claims that its HD Traffic service provides more detailed traffic information, across the entire country. The radio-based system used by Navigon and Garmin only covers major centres.
The Navigon N70 Premium retails for R2 499. The N40 Premium sells for R1 999. Users who purchase an N40 Easy can expect to pay R1 299, while the once-off traffic subscription costs R500. The N40 Easy will be available as a traffic bundle, for the festive season, for R1 499.
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