Terralink International is branching out beyond pure mapmaking into the consumer and mainstream commercial area, through a joint venture with London-based Multimap. This will deliver web-based geographical search, including route-finding and location of services. The service is free to individual consumers, but businesses will resell it to enable customers to find their nearest outlet.
Multimap is already serving the property-buying/leasing service propertylook.co.nz, for example, and Terralink is in the final stages of tying up an agreement with one of the country’s "top 20" websites, says product manager Julian Grainger.
The joint venture will help expand the market for Terralink and Multimap services in particular among companies operating on both sides of the Tasman, Grainger says.
Commercial clients are charged on the basis of customer website hits, at $875 for the first 10,000 maps served.
The venture does take Terralink into a new business area, he says, but many of the companies it deals with would have used its mapping services already: "We’ll just be dealing with a different department."
Retailers, directory publishers and tourism are expected to be the main market areas.
Multimap has mapped the UK, Europe, North America, Austrlia and now New Zealand, and is currently loading Asian countries, Grainger says.
Terralink was originally a state-owned enterprise, but was sold into private ownership following financial troubles in 2001. The company currently employs about 100 staff.