Q-Free
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | OSE: QFR |
| Industry | Technology |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Trondheim, Norway |
Key people | Thomas Falck (CEO) |
| Products | Electronic toll collection and Advanced Transport Management System |
| Revenue | NOK 606 million (FY 2013) |
| Website | www.q-free.com |
Q-Free ASA OSE: QFR which is headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, develops, manufactures and sells complete solutions for road infrastructure management.
The company’s portfolio include systems for tolling/Road User Charging (RUC). These extend from traditional, cash-based fee collection solutions all the way to modern, multi-lane free-flow Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) systems with applications ranging from revenue collection/infrastructure upkeep to demand management. Examples include RUC on strategic roads for trucks or all types of vehicles, congestion charging/access management to urban areas, and distance/emissions-based charging with variable tariffs which are applicable in real time.
Q-Free has a significance presence in the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) and parking management sector, offering traffic management solutions for urban as well as inter-urban and strategic routes.
The company also offers a comprehensive range of data-gathering systems which monitor infrastructure use and therefore performance and wear, as well as environmental issues such as air quality. The information from these systems can be used both in real time and empirically to give an overall impression of the overall integrity of roads and other infrastructure such as bridges and tunnels, and to provide info-mobility services to both road operators and road users.
Expertise in connected vehicle technology, which will allow coming generations of vehicles to communicate with each other and with surrounding infrastructure to increase network safety, capacity and environmental performance, has been a part of the company’s core offer for several years.
All of these solutions can be provided separately or as parts of complete solutions with common interfaces from a single supplier. Q-Free also offers managed services, allowing clients to divest operations to a trusted technology partner.
The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with the ticker QFR. It has reference projects and regional offices around the globe.
www.q-free.com twitter:@QFreeASA
History
Q-Free was established as Micro Design AS in 1984 and in 1988 installed the world’s first ETC solution near its Trondheim base. That system was named Q-Free, from which in 1998 the company subsequently took its name.
Q-Free has since installed RUC solutions worldwide and in recent years has looked to develop and acquire expertise which reflects what it sees as the natural convergence of RUC and ATMS within the road management sector.
The company predicts that within just a few years from now these complementing sectors will be entirely indistinguishable as roads authorities and governments at all levels move to procure systems which are holistic and self-funding in nature. It therefore positions itself as a single-source supplier of all technology and services relating to road infrastructure funding and operation.