Cellphone satnav use surging

HELSINKI - Europeans are increasingly using their cellphones for satellite navigation in cars, directly threatening the personal navigation industry, research firm comScore said on Friday.

Competition for satellite navigation users has increased this year as the world's largest cellphone maker Nokia in January followed Google in starting to offer free navigation on phones.

In February 21.1 million consumers in five large European markets - Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy - used their cellphones for navigation, 68 percent more than a year ago, comScore said.