AT&T and Vodafone Business are working together to bring about the future of connected cars. ZDNet reports that the companies announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 in Barcelona that they will be collaborating on automotive-related Internet of Things (IoT) applications, serving customers in the North American, European, and African markets.
"AT&T and Vodafone Business understand the complexity of global deployments," the companies said.
"The goal is to simplify the deployment process, improve operations, deliver innovative solutions, and make the network certification process easier."
Vodafone’s work with AT&T will assist car manufacturers by streamlining the process and providing "a consistent experience to accelerate IoT adoption" in the space, according to Vodafone Business IoT director Stefano Gastaut.
“Specifically, the companies said they will be working across 5G and autonomous vehicle technology; vehicle-to-everything (V2X) capabilities; in-vehicle entertainment; connected car applications and services; global service quality models; and the intersection of connected cars and smart cities,” reports ZDNet.
Nearly 50 global automotive brands will work with Vodafone and AT&T, adding to the more than 43 million cars and trucks on the road these companies already have connected.
"We've built out what we call the American Center for Mobility, which is up in Ypsilanti in Michigan, it's meant to be one of the top autonomous proofing grounds in the United States, and we are the exclusive network provider for all networks there, up to and including 5G," IoT head Chris Penrose at AT&T told ZDNet.
"So our team, because we work so closely with the output of community and we were being asked early on about how do we get in front of 5G -- because they're already planning their cars for 2021, 2022 already -- how can they start being able to get really close and understand the technologies, so this is something we've led."
