Sprint is looking to capitalize on the growing market for connected devices that monitor drivers in order to calculate more accurate insurance premiums. Today the carrier announced a partnership with Intelligent Mechatronic Systems, a developer of connected car technologies, that calls for Sprint to make the IMS usage-based insurance platform available to its auto insurance customers that can in turn leverage the software to bring new services to drivers.
“We have selected IMS because they provide the most complete, turnkey solution available on the market today, including hardware, logistics, support, secure data warehousing and analytics,” said Mohamed Nasser, director for M2M products and marketing at Sprint. The IMS DriveSync platform enables auto insurers to monitor driving behavior, including distance traveled, braking and acceleration patterns.
But Sprint has bigger plans for DriveSync. The carrier said it wants to eventually offer infotainment services, vehicle diagnostics, fleet management solutions and coaching for young drivers. Like other large mobile operators, Sprint is eyeing the connected car as one of the next frontiers for connectivity.
“There’s a lot of real estate in the dash, especially if you look at the very large Tesla dash, which is basically a double-sized tablet,” said Liz Kerton, executive director of the Autotech Council. “The real estate and Internet connectivity that’s available to the driver, to the passengers, to the car manufacturers, to the carriers – that real estate hasn’t been settled yet.”
