Put two good companies together like Vodafone + TomTom to work on a project, and expect the final result being something useful like a service to cellphones that provides signals about traffic jams, in real-time. The biggest differences with devices of the same kind is that TomTom expects to monitor all roads. instead of just some specific ones.

Mobile phones continuously beam signals to their nearest base stations, which gives the network provider the approximate location of the phone. TomTom will use this location information to establish if roads are congested, if and by how much the trip will be delayed, and if alternative routes can be suggested

For now this service is only going to be used in Netherlands, but the TomTom folks are looking to expand their business into other European countries and of course, the US.

Via textually