14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier Vodafone reportedly plans shutting down the navigational software subsidiary, Wayfinder, due to the fast emergence of free solutions in the Location Based Services (LBS) area. According to the latest reports on the matter, the move is expected to affect a number of 95 jobs across Sweden, Romania and the UK.
Mobile services provider Vodafone purchased the navigational software company Wayfinder back in 2009, though the deal is said to have been closed in December 2008, when the carrier agreed to pay US$30 million for Wayfinder. Currently, the navigation solutions provider is part of Vodafone Internet Services.
As stated above, the shutting down of Vodafone's navigational software subsidiary has been influenced by the latest shifts in the commercial market for navigation services. As most of you might already know, Google and Nokia are currently offering free navigation services to mobile phone users around the world, which makes it rather hard for companies with subscription fees to continue operating on the market.
The services offered by Vodafone through Wayfinder included the in-car navigation Wayfinder Navigator. The company reported a large subscriber base last February, namely 2 million users. According to Reuters, a spokeswoman for the company stated that, while last year that wasn't the case, now “people expect to have (navigational services) and they don't expect to have to pay.” The Wayfinder is expected to be closed down within a couple of months, it seems, though customers will be offered the possibility to move to other services before that.
For what it's worth, the market of mobile navigation services changed a lot since last year, especially since two of the largest players in the industry, Google and Nokia, are offering free maps with turn-by-turn navigation. Other competitors, including TomTom and Garmin, are also affected by the move. “We could not charge for something that others gave away for free,” Vodafone’s Anna Cloke commented, Engadget reports.