After Google, Airtel Starts Navigation Services

Airtel has now entered the navigation services market. It has launched turn-by-turn voice navigation and live traffic updates for its customers with its new ‘Smart Drive' map application.

This comes within a week of Google unveiling a similar service on its existing map service in India; analysts believe more telecom operators will soon launch similar services.

While there is no charge to view the map, a customer has to pay for navigation (Rs 99/month) and live traffic data (Rs 49/month). However, data browsing is free till November 30.

The Smart Drive app can also suggest alternative routes in case of heavy traffic, and search for nearby restaurants, theatres and shopping malls.

The SmartDrive app currently covers Delhi and NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore. By December, the service will be extended to Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune. Like Nokia's Drive, Airtel's maps are also sourced from Navteq.