NAVTEQ Signs Sponsorship Agreement With Telefonica for NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge(R)

CHICAGO, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, today confirmed Telefonica as a returning sponsor of the Global LBS Challenge, making this the third consecutive year. Telefonica is a Regional Sponsor of the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), North America and South America regions.

Through this sponsorship, Telefonica, the leading mobile operator for Spanish-speaking countries, encourages developers worldwide who are interested in Spanish-speaking customers, to participate in the competition. Telefonica will give the winners of the competition access to technical resources and commercial support through its Movilforum Partner Program (www.movilforum.es) and help introduce the winning companies to different Telefonica departments interested in LBS solutions. Telefonica has presence in 13 countries in Latin America in addition to Spain under the Movistar brand as well as five other countries in Europe through its subsidiary O2.

"NAVTEQ recognized the tremendous opportunity to tap into developers in South America and created a new track in that region for 2010. We are very pleased that Telefonica is not only returning as a sponsor of our developer competition but is also supporting the new South America track of the Global LBS Challenge. Their knowledge, experience and presence in Latin America will be especially attractive to contestants in that region," said Marc Naddell, vice president, partner & developer programs, NAVTEQ. "The possibility for developers to get support from a mobile operator to launch their location-aware applications to a large subscriber base is crucial for their go-to-market efforts."

"The NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is an excellent source of innovation in the LBS space," said Isidoro Garzon Herrero, Head of Innovation at Telefonica. "By sponsoring the Global LBS Challenge, Telefonica aims to reach, capture and recruit the best LBS applications and talent from all over the world for its customers and invest in new business."

The annual NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is conducted by NAVTEQ Network for Developers(TM) (NN4D) and aimed at stimulating innovation in location-aware applications. It is a worldwide competition across five different regions - EMEA, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and India - challenging application developers to build new applications using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ® maps. In addition to the record global prize pool valued at over $10 million USD to be shared by the overall winners, "Best of" recognition awards will be awarded in nine categories to recognize achievements in particular areas.

For more information about this year's competition, please visit www.LBSChallenge.com. Registration for the South America region closes on February 12, 2010. A completed solution is not required at the time of registration. Final judging and awards for the EMEA region will be held on February 14, 2010 in Barcelona, Spain; for North America on March 30, 2010 in San Jose (CA), USA; and for South America on May 24, 2010 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

About Telefonica

Telefonica is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies by market cap. Its activities are centered mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses, while its broadband business is the key growth driver underpinning both. Movilforum is the initiative of Telefonica Espana to develop a collaboration framework between this company and a network of external companies with the purpose of promoting the development and deployment of mobile services and applications. Movilforum focuses on creating the best services and solutions for its clients with its partners.

About the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge

First launched in 2003, the NAVTEQ Global LBS Challenge is a world-wide competition conducted by NAVTEQ Network for Developers(TM) (NN4D), daring application developers around the world to build innovative location-based services (LBS) using dynamic positioning technology and NAVTEQ® maps. Integrating the accuracy and richness of NAVTEQ digital map data and LBS content facilitates the timely evolution of the next wave of location-aware applications. The Global LBS Challenge has become the premier event in the LBS industry for shining the spotlight on global LBS innovation and opportunity. Over 32% of the finalists from the past six years have gone on to receive venture capital funding or launch commercially-distributed applications. For more information on this year's competition, go to www.LBSChallenge.com.

About NAVTEQ Network for Developers

NAVTEQ Network for Developers(TM) (NN4D) is a dynamic web portal and global community that provides developers and business partners with the technical and business support needed to build, showcase and launch the most innovative location-enabled solutions. The NN4D includes resources such as mapping APIs, LBS content, point of interest data, routing information as well as geospatial platforms and tools from NAVTEQ and its partners. Members can rely on NN4D when creating GPS-based applications for the web, mobile phones, GIS and portable navigation devices that employ traffic, navigation, location content and location-based advertising for enterprise and consumer use. Connect with the people, tools and resources you need to build and market your location-enabled products by joining today at www.NN4D.com/joindevelopers.

About NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital map information to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,400 employees located in 195 offices and in 44 countries.

NAVTEQ, NAVTEQ Network for Developers and Global LBS Challenge are trademarks of NAVTEQ in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved.

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