Switzerland Upgrades its Nationwide Positioning Network with Trimble GNSS Infrastructure Technology

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) announced today it has supplied 31 Trimble NetR5™ GNSS reference stations and Trimble Zephyr Geodetic™ 2 antennas to Switzerlands Federal Office for Topography (swisstopo) to upgrade its nationwide positioning network with Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) capabilities. The permanent geospatial infrastructure will support satellite signals from GPS and GLONASS, significantly optimizing real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning performance for surveying, engineering and Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals.

Known as AGNES (Automated GPS Network for Switzerland), the Swiss infrastructure enables swisstopo to provide the Swiss Positioning Service (swipos), which supplies RTK GPS and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) corrections to users of the network. By implementing Trimble NetR5 GNSS reference stations, which support the modernized GPS L2C and L5 signals as well as GLONASS L1/L2 signals, the network will be upgraded and called AGNES II. In addition, the selection of the new Trimble Zephyr Geodetic 2 antennas provides AGNES II compatibility with future planned constellations and frequencies.

Originally built in 1999 with Trimble GPS receivers, the network covers the entire 41,000 square kilometers (25, 476 square miles) of Switzerland, which is known for its extreme topography ranging from mountains over 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) high to its lowest lake at 193 meters (633 feet). Users of AGNES II will be able to optimize positioning performance particularly in reception-critical areas, such as areas with interrupted reception and zones with extreme topographic features.

In addition, the use of Trimble RTKNet™ software provides AGNES II with Trimble VRS™ (Virtual Reference Station) functionality, which computes a virtual reference station for the user in the field, increasing system reliability and allowing significantly greater distances between reference stations. The VRS network will provide a highly reliable, cost-effective means for surveyors and other professionals to work faster and achieve more accurate GNSS results.

The AGNES II network is designed to cover the needs of swisstopo into the future and will enable accurate and reliable centimeter-level surveying measurements to be taken faster and more cost-effectively throughout Switzerland. AGNES II is expected to be fully operational by summer of 2007.

The nationwide Swiss VRS network follows more than 80 Trimble infrastructure installations networks throughout the world including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of South Africa, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and U.S. For a partial reference list of Trimble VRS installations visit: http://www.trimble.com/vrsinstallations.shtml.