Tele Atlas, a worldwide company engaged in the production and development of advanced geographic databases, says it is continuing its expansion and marketing activities as planned and has gained financial support of its major shareholders. Robert Bosch GmbH and IAM BV, each having an interest of 32.8 percent in Tele Atlas NV, today announced that they provide standby funding to Tele Atlas. If required, Tele Atlas can use these funds to finance its expansion and support ongoing commercialization of its United States database according to its plans. On Jan. 15 Tele Atlas announced the release of its turn-by-turn map database covering the United States and Canada, which it claims is the most powerful database ever built for North America. The database will now be marketed, tested and licensed by numerous navigation developers and Location Based Services platforms, according to Tele Atlas. "We understand the importance of high quality digital geographical databases and want to give a clear signal to the market that we fully support Tele Atlas's global strategy," said Siegfried Dais, member of the board of Robert Bosch GmbH. "We believe in the huge potential of Tele Atlas and its superior database, that not only enables our own car navigation products, but will also fuel many other location based services." Both shareholders are convinced that Tele Atlas has a unique product suite and market position and express their confidence in Tele Atlas. "By their announcement, Robert Bosch GmbH and IAM BV make clear that Tele Atlas's expansion strategy, primarily into North America, is backed by them," said Alain De Taeye, CEO of Tele Atlas NV. "The recent launch of the most powerful database ever built in North America proves that Tele Atlas takes its commitment to be the reference in digital mapping very serious by offering, as promised, to our partners and the industry at large, the best there is in digital mapping." About Tele Atlas Tele Atlas is a worldwide company in the development of detailed geographical databases, which form the basis for a broad spectrum of applications. The company says its database covers 383 million inhabitants in Europe and 313 million inhabitants in the United States. Tele Atlas is engaged principally in the markets for in-car navigation systems, GIS applications, location based services and telematics. With its staff of 1,850, the company says it is actively increasing coverage and content on a global scale and is continuously updating, refining and adding detail to its map databases. Visit www.teleatlas.com for the latest Tele Atlas products and services. About Tele Atlas North America, Inc. Tele Atlas North America, Inc., headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tele Atlas NV. Tele Atlas North America, Inc. had its beginnings in 1983 with a vision to provide geographic information in digital form. Today, the company says it enables its customers' success through delivering both digital maps and real-time traffic information for business and consumer applications. The company focuses on providing content to market sectors including telematics/automotive navigation, location based services (LBS), and geographic information systems (GIS). For more information on Tele Atlas products and services, visit www.na.teleatlas.com.