The “2006 Shanghai Navigation Forum” was held in Shanghai from November 16 to November 17. The representatives from government agencies, mobile operators, map providers, navigation device makers, OEM, and other related enterprises from around the world attended the forum. 

Mr. Liao Ming, the general manager of China Mobile (Shanghai)'s Data Service Department, introduced the Shanghai cellular probe platform and system, which was jointly developed in strategic partnership with TrafficCast China (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. based on TrafficCast International's technologies. 

Mr. Liao stated that traffic congestion is becoming more and more serious in Chinese cities, which has increasing demand for intelligent traffic management and traffic information services. He pointed out that the cellular probe technology has obvious advantages over traditional traffic data collection methods, including short construction period, large coverage, low cost, and good precision. Mr. Liao demonstrated the Shanghai real-time traffic information map, which covers the entire inner ring area and two state routes. He also presented future traffic information services in navigation, SMS and MMS services, and China Mobile's monternet. Mr. Liao said that the cellular probe technology will be applied during the 2010 Shanghai World Expo for real-time traffic information collection and dissemination, and the same technology could be applied during the 2008 Beijing Olympics Game.