I have little sympathy for Ordnance Survey. As a government agency they are funded by the UK government, therefore they are funded by our taxes. Unfortunately the OS used to (and probably still do) charge the earth for electronic map data, where as I believe the US equivalent provides electronic map data either for free or at affordable rates.

As an example, Bo Beep and I like to visit the Channel Islands and in particular Jersey on a regular basis. Ordnance Survey have had paper maps and electronic map data of Jersey for a long time, yet SatNavs had to wait until Navteq and Tele Atlas actually visited the islands and physically map them before data was available for SatNavs to use.

Regards,

Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

You can't have it both ways. OS is a Govt Agency but is a positive net contributor and is not subsidised. It's map licence fees pay of the data collection and the running of the agency.

I'd far rather those who used the data paid for it than have every tax payer in the country burdened with their costs so that a few of us could have free data.

Darren Griffin

I thought OS had made some data available for free anyway?!

Anyway, we're almost going off topic...!

MaFt

Better still, why not get OS to develop Sat-Navs & then at least we'll know that the data will be pretty accurate & it would bring in a nice revenue stream.

Oops. So sorry, I've just had a sensible idea.

Be alert.. This country needs more lerts.

Sorry Privateer, but I disagree with you.

Yes the OS is a government agency, but I don't see why TomTom/Garmin should get free access to the data that has been collected with my taxes just so they can sell it back to me again for a huge profit to themselves. Effectively I'd end up paying twice for the data (once for the collection then again when TT decide to update their maps & charge me accordingly).

Don't fool yourself into thinking that if the data was free then the cost of maps would come down too - it's all £££ to them.

Darren is correct, OS is a government agency, but it receives NO funding at all from the British taxpayer via the government, all of it's revenue comes from licensing and the sale of map services.

The detail and resource that OS put into building and maintaining accurate mapping of the UK really doesn't get seen by 99% of the population, it's certainly no light undertaking and I can see where their frustration lies, the same as mine when they work to produce and keep maps as current as possible, yet the satnavs lag behind generations of maps before changes appear in the car.

I have no vested interest in OS, except I used to consult for them on various projects, and know their standards and expectations.

If I pay £11 for a new UK road map, am I buying the publisher's version of the road network, or an OS based version? If the latter, presumably some percentage is payment for a licence to use the information. If this is the case the sum does not seem that large - so why not pay it as part of the price of purchasing TA/TT or Navteq maps?

Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

I drive a Taxi in Canterbury. I have used a Tom Tom GO 910 for many years.

The map updates I pay for have never included many new roads, this was very apparent in the latest update last month, some roads as old as 4 years were still not included, but were present in the Iphone App "Navfree".

TT's response to my complaint so far has been that they do not use "open source maps" as used with Navfree...but use Teleatlas. They asked me to provide details of the roads they missed.

My reply to them was a little robust-why should I be doing the job that I pay them to do? I rely on the accuracy of their maps to locate roads out of my area. After paying for this service I do not expect to only find some roads on this free app on my Iphone.

I do not think it unreasonable to expect their mapping company to have roads that have been there several years...I await response now I have the latest map update from TT still without many roads and have complained again to them

I'm not convinced OS are as good as they like to think! On the one hand there is a new (side) road in my area which is shown on OS maps but is not included yet by TomTom. On the other hand the new (quite complicated) junction between the A52 and the A46 is yet to appear on the OS maps and is marked on them as 'opening late 2011' despite having been in use for several months already. Also I recently came across the closure of a gap in the dual cariageway which is yet to be picked up by OS. A 'no right turn' at the junction of two major roads has yet to be picked up by TomTom despite having been existence for several years! On balance OS is probably better than TomTom but both could improve.