China Issues Online Mapping Licenses to 18 Companies

China Daily, 6/25/10

China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) recently told reporters that approximately 30 domestic Chinese companies had applied for permission to provide online mapping services in China, out of which 18 companies had already received approval. The SBSM expects to issue the first batch of licenses in the near future, and is still examining applications from a number of joint ventures and cooperative enterprises.

Nokia has confirmed that it is in the process of applying for a license for its Ovi Maps service, while Microsoft China and Google China declined to comment on whether or not they had applied.

Chinese search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) said its application has not yet been approved.

Editor's Note: Reports earlier this month said that Google had applied for a license. SBSM had announced the new regulations in May. For more background on this topic, please see "China to Issue Online, Mobile Mapping Licenses," MD 5/28/10 issue.

Keywords: online mapping Internet license State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping regulation

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