Skymeter Corporation Joins ng Connect Program to Target Traffic Congestion and Infrastructure Challenges with Next Generation Telematics Solutions

MaRS client company selected by new alliance to deliver in-vehicle mobile payment and tolling services leveraging emerging 4G/LTE networks

Toronto, September 29, 2010 – Skymeter Corporation, a leader in financial-grade GPS (FGPS) applications, today announced it has joined the ng Connect Program, a multi-industry initiative driving the development of next-generation broadband services based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) and other high bandwidth technologies. The company will initially focus its collaboration efforts on enhancing billing delivery, congestion management and the payment functions of the next generation of services for tolling, parking and pay-as-you-go insurance.

Skymeter’s vision is to address the world’s growing transportation challenges with highly accurate parking and road-use data and solutions that will enhance the driving experience by transforming how we pay to drive. New, automatic use-based payment schemes enabled by Skymeter improve private sector profitability, with reduced traffic congestion and better air quality as side benefits. Governments can also directly address growing congestion, infrastructure use and financing issues. The company enables the evolution of every form of vehicle use payment, from insurance and vehicle leasing to parking and roads. Road-use charging can range from urban congestion management to intercity tolling to nation-wide systems that may offer an alternative to fuel taxes and help manage demand. The company incorporates methodologies for both privacy and anonymity to assure motorists of complete privacy while traveling and absolute confidentiality of their trips data.

“We believe the driving experience will undergo a fundamental transformation as next generation networks begin to enable in-vehicle capabilities and services previously impossible without the power of 4G/LTE networks. We look forward to helping lead this change through the ng Connect Program—where we can join forces with other industry innovators to create services that will change the way we use our vehicles,” said JD Hassan, Chief Commercial Officer, Skymeter Corporation. “We’re excited to work with other ng Connect members to support that transformation with the creation of new business models and services, delivering benefits to consumers and enterprises while addressing key business and governmental issues such as parking, congestion and infrastructure funding.”

“We’re pleased to welcome Skymeter Corporation to the program and are looking forward to their contributions based on the wide range of innovative in-vehicle services they provide. For example, we are very interested in collaborating on services that will improve the driving experience with easy and more accurate tolls and parking payments or improve air quality through better congestion management leveraging next generation 4G/LTE networks,” said Steve West, Vice President of Emerging Technology & Media at Alcatel-Lucent, founding member of the ng Connect Program.

“This is exciting news for one of our long-standing MaRS clients,” said Don Duval, VP of MaRS Business Services. “Programs like this permit industry players, both big and small, to create a suite of applications that can be run on integrated in-vehicle platforms. With all these applications running, payment services are a critical element to any solution, which makes the Skymeter technology so attractive.”

About Skymeter Corporation
Skymeter Corporation is a Toronto, Canada-based data services operator that enables location-based payments using financial-grade GPS. Its billing-delivery services include Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and Time, Distance and Place (TDP) metering for road use, parking and PAYD insurance. For more information on Skymeter, please visit: www.skymetercorp.com

About the ng Connect Program
The ng Connect Program is a multi-industry organization committed to the development and rapid deployment of the next generation of broadband services based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) and other ultra high bandwidth technologies. Founded in 2009, the ng Connect Program is supported by leading network, consumer electronics, application and content providers including 4DK, Alcatel-Lucent, Atlantic Records, Atrato, BlogRadio, BUZZMEDIA, chumby, Connect2Media, CoolSign, Creative Technology Ltd., Desktone, EON Reality, FISHLABS, GameStreamer, Inc., Gemalto, HP, IMS, Intamac Systems Ltd., IVOX, K12, Inc., Kabillion, Kyocera Communications Inc., LearningMate, LiveCast, MediaTile, Mobideo, Movial, NCR Corporation, Netsweeper, Nuance Communications, Optical Crime Prevention, Inc., QNX, R360, RebelVox LLC., Samsung, SIGNEXX, Skymeter Corporation, STRATACACHE, Telepresence Tech, Total Immersion, Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc., TuneWiki, V-Gate, Vidyo, Visionmax Solutions Inc., Wcities.com and Words & Numbers. For more information on the ng Connect Program, please visit: www.ngconnect.org. Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ngConnect.

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (www.marsdd.com) is a large scale, mission driven innovation centre located in Toronto and networked across Ontario, focused on building Canada’s next generation of technology companies. MaRS works closely with entrepreneurs to grow and scale their ventures into global market leaders in life sciences and health care, information, communications and entertainment technologies, cleantech, advanced materials and engineering, as well as innovative social purpose businesses.

ng Connect Press Contacts
JD Hassan, Skymeter Corporation Tel: +1 416-673-8406 jdhassan@skymetercorp.com
Pamela Preston, ng Connect Program Tel: +1 212-616-6001 ppreston@breakawaycom.com
Alicia Mickelsen, ng Connect Program Tel: +1 212-616-6002 amick@breakawaycom.com