Washington, D.C. - The National Parking Association (NPA), the country’s first association to serve the parking industry, and MobileParking LLC, the world’s first locator and reservation parking service, have reached an agreement to extend their Affinity Program partnership to a term of five years.
This enhanced partnership will ensure that parking owners and operators position themselves to capitalize on the benefits of the emerging mobile commerce market, which will increasingly include delivery of dynamic parking content to wireless users.
Recent parking-related developments in the mobile commerce market include:
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Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT; value: $52 billion) launch of a proprietary search engine (beta.search.msn.com), which utilizes a local information finder called “Search Near Me” designed to locate products and/or services in a specified city, including local parking information;
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Yahoo!’s (Nasdaq: YHOO; value: $52 billion) launch of a local information product (local.yahoo.com), which promotes dynamic parking content as one of the most important features that will be offered to retail consumers;
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Vodafone (NYSE: VOD; value: $179.9 billion), the world's largest cell phone services company and 44% owner of Verizon Wireless in the U.S., generated $2.19 billion in revenue during FY2003 through the sale of wireless content and wireless Internet access to mobile phones, an 82% increase over the previous year;
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Navteq (NYSE: NVT; value: $3.4 billion) stated in its S-1 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission that the ability to deliver dynamic parking content represents a significant initiative under its growth strategy that can generate new revenue and enhance its core business. Navteq delivers dynamic data and content to customers that include: Yahoo!, Microsoft, America OnLine, MapQuest, and 98% of all onboard navigation units;
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Additional companies that have announced initiatives with the potential to utilize and/or deliver dynamic parking content to wireless consumers include: Google, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint Wireless, YellowPages, and Siemens.
The ability for consumers to access dynamic, real-time parking content via wireless devices will bring an added efficiency to the parking process that stands to benefit parking operators/owners and customers alike. Dynamic parking content includes: location, pricing, availability, reservations, value-added services, and driving directions.
“The mobile commerce market is developing rapidly and has broad operational and financial implications for the parking industry,” states Jason Boseck, President of MobileParking. “An innovative approach by parking owners and operators will position them to generate new sources of revenue and enhance existing customer relationships.”
“In order to realize profits and remain competitive in the mobile commerce market,” says NPA Executive Director, Marty Stein, “parking owners and operators must be proactive and position themselves strategically. Extending our partnership with MobileParking will help us to help our members attain this position, as well as educate them on the wealth of opportunities that exist within this unique, developing marketplace.”
For further information, contact Jason Boseck, President, MobileParking LLC, at (410) 991-1025. Visit NPA’s Web site at: www.npapark.org
About MobileParking
Founded in 2000, MobileParking aggregates dynamic parking content through its partners in the parking industry. MobileParking’s Operator Assisted Reservation (OAR) Platform™ is the world’s first locator and reservation service for transient parking customers that is accessible via a mobile phone. Customers can call (800) PARK-123 to locate the closest available parking space and be directed by MobileParking operators to Partner parking facilities. With an existing database of 5,000+ parking locations in the 30 largest US cities, MobileParking is aggregating content that will benefit the entire parking industry.
About the National Parking Association
The National Parking Association has proudly served the nation’s parking industry since 1951. The NPA roster includes more than 1,200 member companies comprised of parking professionals in both the public and private sectors from across the country and around the world. NPA members are private operators, parking consultants, colleges and universities, municipalities, parking authorities, hospitals and medical centers, and industry vendors
