Meldung vom 31.03.2014
- 10 years mobile parking - a success story: 100 million parking tickets purchased so far via Telekom Austria Group's domestic m-parking solution 'HANDY Parken' across 18 cities Austria-wide
- One million customers currently registered in Austria, over 50% of all parking tickets in Vienna purchased via this mobile solution
- Mobile-parking: a success story also in other operating markets of the Group such as Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Republic of Serbia and Republic of Macedonia
- Launch of a new m-parking application with improved technology, fresh design, innovative user-friendly features on the occasion of its 10-year anniversary
The Telekom Austria Group's domestic m-parking service "HANDY Parken" celebrated its 10-year anniversary. This solution was first introduced in Austria in 2003 and has proved a success story since then, currently reaching the 1-million customer mark, with a total of over 100 million parking tickets being sold to date via this mobile service. A total of 24 million m-parking transactions were carried out in 2013 alone. 'HANDY Parken' was first launched in Vienna, where it currently accounts for over 50% of all parking tickets purchased, and then rolled-out across 18 cities Austria-wide. It is the most popular mobile parking system in the country.
"HANDY Parken" has proved a success story over the past 10 years not only in Austria but also in other operating countries of the Group. This solution allows drivers to pay for their parking tickets in a quick and simple manner. Going forward, this service will become even simpler, further increasing customer convenience and ease of use," said Alexander Sperl, Chief Commercial Officer at the Group's domestic subsidiary.
In recent years, mobile technologies have revolutionized the way customers pay for everyday commodities. The combination of full-coverage and high-performance mobile networks with mobile payment accounts and smartphone apps has driven the emergence of mobile payment solutions for transit and parking services. These apps don't require cash, tokens, parking passes, or other traditional tools, instead, they simply rely on a mobile device. Customer convenience, ease of use, simple and fast service access, safe and effective payment transactions as well as reduction of parking operator's costs are among the key factors of success for m-parking solutions and the reasons why they have become so widespread across the globe.
Mobile Parking: A Success Story also in Other Operating Markets of the Group
Mobile payment solutions have also had great success in other operating countries of the Telekom Austria Group and demonstrate the knowledge and know-how transfers between the markets. In Croatia, for instance, where Vipnet was the first operator group-wide to have launched this service in 2001, has now rolled-out mobile-parking in 75 cities of the country and currently accounts for 85% of all parking tickets, with a total of 600,000 parking payment transactions being carried out via Vipnet's mobile network every month. In Bulgaria, the service was first introduced in 2007 and is now provided in 16 cities across the country. In Slovenia, Si.mobil currently offers two mobile parking services. One service platform is operated together with Telekom Slovenia, Si.mobil's main competitor in the country, jointly with NKBM, Slovenia's second largest bank, and also includes other mobile payment services such as public transport. Moneta service has been offered by Si.mobil since 2009, is currently available in over 10,000 locations across the country. The other mobile parking solution has only been rolled out in two Slovenian cities so far but future prospects are promising. In the Republic of Serbia, Vip mobile started mobile parking services in Belgrade in the year 2007 as the third operator in the country, currently operating with 56 parking providers that offer mParking in different cities and municipalities. Vip operator reports 110,000 – 130,000 users with about 800,000 transactions per month and total monthly net revenues of approximately EUR 150.000. And finally, Vip operator in Macedonia reports a successful service for its customers. The launch took place in 2008 in Skopje and further three cities with approximately 45,000 tickets per month.
New App with Innovative Features and Fresh Design
On the occasion of the 10-year anniversary, the Telekom Austria Group's domestic subsidiary A1 has launched a new m-parking application with improved technology, fresh design and a new breed of user-friendly features. These include, for instance, the direct display of the parking ticket and of the local parking conditions on the phone screen. The app also provides a map view of all short-term parking zones in Vienna with an integrated GPS function, enabling drivers to check in real time whether their car has been parked in a short-stay parking area, which is subject to a charge, or not. For smartphone users, the booking of a parking ticket can now take place also via the Internet (IP), offering an improved user experience especially for iPhone users, whereas conventional mobile users can still buy their parking tickets via a text message. The new app also has the same reminder function as its previous version: 10 minutes before the parking ticket expires, a reminder is sent to the user's phone. The new m-parking app will be available free-of-charge to all Austrian mobile users starting from today.
In Vienna, mobile parking tickets are charged to a respective mobile parking credit account, which can be topped up via the mobile phone by using paybox, or credit card (when using a premium package of the new apps), as well as, via paybox credit card or online banking via the "HANDY Parken" homepage (www.handyparken.at).paybox is an Austrian electronic cashless payment service that can be accessed with any mobile phone and via any Austrian mobile network. paybox is used to carry out payment transactions in a safe and simple manner via the Internet, in shops, at vending machines, in taxis or public transports, to buy parking tickets or make donations.