T map Surpasses 20 Million Users... 657.2 Billion KRW Social Value Through ESG

T Map Mobility Holds Press Conference
Announces Plans to Strengthen ESG Management Within the Year

The navigation application T map has surpassed 20 million subscribers 22 years after its launch. The value contributed to society through services such as fast route guidance and driving habits reached 657.2 billion KRW over the past five years, and the reduced carbon emissions amounted to 8,885,726 tons over eight years. Within this year, it plans to commercialize the 'Eco Route (tentative name)' for electric vehicles to strengthen ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management.

T map Mobility announced this on the 17th at the 'T map 20 Million Subscribers Breakthrough Briefing' held at the Samhwa Building in Euljiro, Seoul.

TMAP Platform Subscriber Growth Trend
Photo by TMAP Mobility

T map was born from the idea of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won during the feature phone era in 2002 and was launched under the name 'Nate Drive.' Initially, only SK Telecom subscribers could use it, but in 2011, subscribers of other telecom companies were allowed to use it for a fee, and since 2016, it has provided free service to the entire nation. It has established itself as a service used by about 11 million SK Telecom subscribers, 4.38 million KT subscribers, 3.86 million LG Uplus subscribers, and 780,000 others (including budget phone users).

The service has also been steadily upgraded. It evolved from the initial 'turn-by-turn' method that indicated directions with arrows to a 'full map' that displays maps, and since 2013, it predicts arrival times through big data analysis and pattern recognition. In 2016, it introduced a service that analyzes driving tendencies using drivers' driving data, followed by the application of SK Telecom's AI platform 'NUGU' in 'T map X NUGU' and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. After the establishment of T map Mobility Co., Ltd. in December 2020, it has attempted digitalization in various areas such as designated driver services, airport buses, parking, electric vehicles, and freight, leading innovation in mobility. T map Mobility stated, "The amount invested in developing and maintaining the T map platform over the past 22 years alone reaches 1 trillion KRW."

[Photo by T map Mobility]

T map practices ESG management through its services. It guides drivers on faster routes to reduce the time spent wandering on the streets and promotes safe driving by reducing speeding, rapid acceleration, and sudden deceleration, thereby lowering accident rates. The social value created over the past five years is financially estimated at 657.2 billion KRW (number of safe driving special contract subscribers × accident reduction rate × traffic accident damage processing cost), and the reduced greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions over the past eight years amount to 8,885,726 tons (driving habits + optimal route greenhouse gas emissions). Since a 30-year-old pine forest of 1 hectare absorbs about 10.8 tons of carbon dioxide annually, this effect is equivalent to creating a pine forest of 822,752 hectares (8,227.52 km²), which is 1,828 times larger than Yeouido.

Additionally, based on the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) map currently being developed in-house, the 'Eco Route (tentative name)' for electric vehicles, which guides drivers on low-carbon routes, is scheduled to be commercialized within this year. It considers various road conditions such as slopes and curves to guide the route that emits the least carbon.

Lee Jong-ho, CEO of T map Mobility, said, "For a mobility company to achieve sustainable development, leading the era of eco-friendly mobility such as ESG management and carbon neutrality is essential. We will lead innovation in mobility by integrally linking not only existing transportation means such as airport buses, public transportation, and taxis but also future mobility services like autonomous driving and urban air mobility (UAM). We will develop beyond being a 'national navigation' to become a mobility platform that everyone can use."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.