Domestic navigational player, SatNav Technologies welcomed the move by Nokia to offer navigational services free to its smartphone subscribers.

According to SatNav handset manufacturers presently find the cost of navigational services bit high to be bundled alongwith the handset. In cases when they do bundle it, the offering is not aggressively communicated to the end consumer. This has resulted in low adoption of the services.

“This move will also benefit the growth of Personal Navigation Devices (PNDs) in the Indian market. Most people till today are not aware of what exactly navigation can do and how it will help them in their daily lives, some people even express surprise that the technology works in India, luckily this number is going down rapidly over the last 2-3 quarters with awareness increasing rapidly,” says Amit Kishore Prasad, Founder MD & CEO, SatGuide – SatNav Technologies.