ESP SAS formed
ESSP SAS has been recently formed in Rome with objective to become the certified service provider for EGNOS. The Headquarters will be in Toulouse having two units: the Service Provision unit in Madrid and Operations in Toulouse. The negotiations between the European Commission and the EOIG experts have reached a conclusion on the EGNOS Agreement and foresee to initial the Agreement in the coming weeks.michel. calvet@aviation-civile.gouv.fr

ION announces annual award winners
The Institute of Navigation presented its Annual Awards during the IEEE/ION PLANS 2008 Conference. Dr. Maarten Uijt de Haag, for contributions to LADAR based navigation, aircraft precision approach and integrity for synthetic vision systems. Dr. Yoaz Bar-Sever for contributions to the art of GPS satellite orbits and signal modeling for high-accuracy space-borne navigation and science application. Mr. Patrick Reddan for contributions to development of navigation systems, technical leadership of the WAAS, and oversight over implementation
of its geostationary satellites. Dr. Peter Maybeck for lifelong accomplishments in navigation, education and research at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Captain Jens Lyndrup for his superior leadership and significant contributions to the effective combat employment of the United States and Iraq Air Force C-130s as an instructor navigator. www.ion.org

Ahmedabad municipality to add 200 more buses
The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service, India will add 200 CNG buses to its fleet fitted with GPS. The buses would be taken on contract and for the first time penalty clause for various offences ranging for not maintaining time schedule to dirty buses have been introduced. www.gujaratglobal.com

US Postal Service Selects GPS Fleet Solutions
GPS Fleet Solutions agreed with the US Postal Service to begin a GPS vehicle tracking project. According to VP of Sales, 500 unit pilot is to be installed in greater Chicagoland. Key expectations from this project include improved route efficiency, driver safety, customer service, and reduced vehicle costs. www.gpsfleetsolutions.com

Lockheed wins GPS satellite contract
The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.5 billion contract to build the military's next generation of navigation satellites. It beat out rival Boeing for a contract to develop and build two satellites, with an option for 10 more, the first batch of a constellation called the GPS III. The Pentagon would probably order 20 satellites on top of that. www.washingtonpost.com

ABI: GPS handset market poised for huge expansion
The market for GPS-enabled handsets is set to boom over the next four years, with more than 550 million units shipping in 2012, market research firm ABI Research said. Cellular service providers have begun offering both on-board and off-board navigation, following in the wake of PND market success over the course of the last several years. Carriers have also begun offering other location-based services, such as local search and friend-finding apps on GPS-enabled mobile phones. Furthermore, community and social-networking-related functionality, such as the sharing of points of interest and geo-tagged pictures, is also becoming popular and will boost GPSenabled handset adoption even more, ABI suggested. www.abiresearch.com

Japan asks for limits on cell phone use by kids
The Japanese government is urging parents to limit the use of cell phones by children. The government has adopted recommendations by a government panel requesting manufacturers to enhance Internet filtering and include GPS technology in phones that could keep track of kids. 1/3rd of sixth graders and around 60 % of high schoolers own cell phones in Japan, costing $30 per month. www.allheadlinenews.com