UK mobile phone operator Cellnet Mobile Communications Ltd and UK road traffic monitoring service Trafficmaster Plc have signed a 15m pound three year deal for a new road traffic monitoring service, TrafficLine. The system uses Trafficmaster’s network of infra-red bridge mounted sensors to collect information on the speed of traffic, which is to be extended to cover 95% of the UK’s trunk roads by mid 1998. The new system uses a receiver unit fitted to a car’s windscreen, which shows a red light when there is a road blockage in a 15 mile radius. The motorist can then ring up a hotline run by Cellnet, to receive a bulletin of traffic information in the local area. Cellnet is to charge 0.45 pounds per minute for the calls made and pay Trafficmaster a royalty of 20-25%. Trafficmaster is planning to supply 400,000 receivers to Cellnet which will sell them to their mobile phone users at 25 pounds, or bundle them with a mobile telephone and hands free kit. The deal is expected to generate 1m pounds in revenues to Trafficmaster from the phone service, and 5m pounds for the supply of receivers, in the first year. Separately, Trafficmaster has also called off its merger talks with car security firm Tracker Network Plc (CI No 3,245) as both parties decided not to pursue the merger.
