Fuelled by rapid growth in car ownership and increasing traffic congestion, the demand for traffic information in China has never been greater. Vehicle Manufacturers must choose between two solutions, Europe’s RDS TMC or Japan’s VICS. The stakes are high and failure to get this decision right could prove costly.
In "Broadcast technologies for traffic information in China", SBD help simplify the decision making process by providing insight into the technical options for the delivery of traffic information and analysing the relative strength of the two delivery methods.
Traffic information services are beginning to emerge in China in parallel to the growing market for embedded OE navigation systems, Portable Navigation Devices (PNDs) and Smartphone navigation. Dynamic route guidance systems using traffic information have a strong competitive advantage over static navigation, especially as China’s cities continue to suffer from ever-increasing levels of congestion. Vehicle manufacturers and PND suppliers are therefore planning to offer traffic information services to their customers in China, as they do in many other markets. Cellular communications is an option for the delivery of traffic information in the short term, to get services started, but these are expected to be replaced by broadcast services in the medium to long term.
Competing broadcast technologies
Two rival traffic broadcast technologies are being promoted in China, both of which use FM radio data subcarriers in their simplest forms.
These are:
The growing importance of the Chinese economy and new vehicle market means that many vehicle manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers are asking “Which technology, if any, will win the battle between TMC and VICS?”. The answer to this question is still unclear as the situation is fluid and complex.
This report will assess the most likely outcomes through an analysis of the decision making processes and the key players.
Request more information about this research by contacting Juanita Appleby on jappleby@sbd.co.uk