ATLANTA – HUGHES Telematics announced it has entered two agreements that enhance its portfolio of global technology relationships. IBM and Oracle both will provide essential technological ingredients necessary to deliver HUGHES Telematics' consumer solution to its automotive partners and the drivers of their vehicles.

IBM has been working with HUGHES Telematics to build its telematics operations center, which is the hub of connectivity for all HUGHES Telematics-equipped vehicles. This milestone formalizes a long-standing relationship between HUGHES Telematics and IBM and is the springboard for the implementation phase of HUGHES Telematics' systems in Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler vehicles.

"Telematics and vehicle ICT are moving from the conceptual phase to strategic execution," said Thilo Koslowski, Vice President Automotive at Gartner, Inc. "Partnerships between telematics providers and experienced IT leaders are a critical success factor in developing successful offerings and realizing the connected vehicle."

HUGHES Telematics also announced it has selected database and applications software from Oracle for its customer- and business-facing systems. The unique and proven combination of Oracle's leading database, middleware and applications will allow HUGHES Telematics to provide a standards-based adaptable platform for future services and deliver a continuously exceptional customer experience.

HUGHES Telematics will begin rolling out its telematics solution in Mercedes-Benz USA and Chrysler LLC vehicles in 2009. The operations center is designed to support telematics services using third party vehicle solutions as well as HUGHES Telematics equipment.