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Car Satellite Navigation System: The New Executive Toy for Island Pacesetters

Island News
April '08

Navigating your way by car through metropolitan Lagos, for instance, from Lekki to Ajangbadi or Okokomaiko has never been so easy. Reason: the growing use of signals from satellites for car navigation. The equipment can pinpoint an individual or a vehicle's location on a given street within 30 feet. In several advanced countries, rental car companies equip luxury cars with satellite receivers and computer maps to help customers navigate. Scientists use the receivers to study the movement of animals in the wild. Ambulance drivers calculate the shortest route to pick up heart attack victims. Geophysicists track the motion of earthquake faults.

Here on the Island, such equipment will enable you to drive from one end of Lagos to another without having to ask any person the name of a street you've never visited before. This satellite navigation system with voice activation will do the job. It will show you on a digital screen and tell you when to turn, when to slow down or when to stop. More than 2,000 of these executive toys have been sold to Island pacesetters in the past three weeks. If you want one, it will set you back at least N130, 000.

Listen to this anecdote. "There was a time I was around Yaba. It was quarter to four and I needed to get to my bank, GTB. I needed to get there before they close. I knew there was one in Yaba area, but I didn't know where it was. The Garmin Satellite Navigation System in my car came in handy. It directed me. I got to the bank just in time." That was Femi Odeleye narrating his personal experience to drive home his point on the usefulness of the path finding device he markets in Lagos. He builds a few scenarios to buttress his point: "Say, you're running out of fuel, and you want to know how to get to the nearest filling station. Or, you want to go to a wedding, you have an idea where it is but you don't know the particular street."

In these situations, the novel navigation system also comes in handy. It can also help in locating eateries, recreation and entertainment spots. It is based on the Global Positioning Radar System (GPRS), which it uses for navigation. Odeleye runs a company called Bespoke Design Concepts. It is a 'vehicle customizing' firm, he says, explaining, "by that I mean we sell vehicle accessories mainly, both interior and exterior vehicle accessories. We are one of the first companies to introduce multi-media systems for vehicles, by that I mean DVD screens and audio systems for vehicles. We do things for the interior of vehicles, anything you want to do to enhance what you already have."

About a year ago, his company introduced the Garmin Satellite Navigation System, produced in South Africa. Navigation systems have been around for a while, he says, "but it has taken off only recently, even abroad." Garmin Worldwide is based in America and has presence in countries across the world. The other major producer of navigation systems is called TomTom. According to him, "If you go abroad now, like in the UK, if you get into a cab, what they use are navigation systems, it just makes life easier for you."

Previously, one had wondered when this hi-tech gizmo will be introduced in Nigeria. And last Sunday I had a shocker. We got into this BMW 5 series car and there it was clipped to the windscreen. As the navigation system screen came alive, I punched the address of Olowojeunjeje Street in Ajegunle, and the equipment went to work. From Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, the voice activated system commenced. It quickly directed the driver to proceed to Carter Bridge and in less than 15 minutes we arrived at Olowojeunjeje Street. It directed us through Carter Bridge to Apapa Bridge to Marine Beach and the popular Boundary.

From there we drove through the back streets in Ajegunle until we arrived at our destination. Why Olowojeunjeje Street in Ajegunle? I wanted to test the gizmo to be sure it was effective in the remote parts of Lagos. To be doubly sure that this was not a fluke, I punched in another street called Alayabiagba Street, still in Ajegunle. In five minutes it had navigated us to this destination. It was time to retrace our steps. Again I punched Island News office address on Osborne Road, Ikoyi and the equipment directed the driver from the inner most part of Ajegunle back to Ikoyi.

In Nigeria, the navigation system that Odeleye sells covers the country, but "It's restricted to Lagos and Abuja, for now." He explains: "What I mean by that is that we have Nigeria mapped, but only Lagos and Abuja have been mapped to street level. So it's effective in these two states. We expect that other states would follow as the demand increases. When you zoom in on Lagos, you can see all the intricate details of the streets. But for elsewhere, you'll only see the major roads going in and out of the place."

Authorized by Garmin to market their navigation systems in Nigeria, Odeleye's company works with another firm called Quantum Lyn, which is in charge of the business in Abuja. Built like a miniature TV, this gadget can be mounted on a vehicle's windscreen or dashboard. It's detachable and comes with a charger, which you can plug into your vehicle's cigarette lighter- so you can keep it charged while you're using it.

How does it work? Odeleye explains: "Basically, it works with your good old satellite in space. It picks up data and signals from your satellite in space. Hence, you cannot use it indoors. It has to be outdoors in a vehicle. Indoors, it might pick a signal, but it might not be very strong because you need a clear sky, more or less. If you have a very cloudy day, that might disturb some of the waves from the satellite. But basically it works with satellites and you know we've got loads of satellite in space. So it just picks up the most convenient satellite you can get close to. It just picks up information from satellites."

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