The connected car offers new opportunities and new challenges for telecommunications providers, according to a new report from Deloitte. Meanwhile, the ecosystem around vehicle connectivity is ramping up to support driver assistance systems and more autonomous vehicle testing.
One of the major challenges for telcos will be handling the amount of data connected and autonomous vehicles will generate. Deloitte said its estimates “indicate data traffic associated with mobility and transportation could grow to 9.4 exabytes every month by 2030 as autonomous vehicles become more pervasive, highlighting the exponential growth in data traffic that could exert significant pressure for higher bandwidth. These estimates vastly exceed most industry projections, which don’t take into account the complexities and far-reaching implications of the future of mobility. Telecom companies need to gear up to embrace this imminent challenge.”
Still, Deloitte envisions telecom providers will have an upper hand in being the hub for content-centric digital lives that include “multiple interconnected and personalized smart devices [and] also our access to transportation.” Deloitte goes on to say that “increasing consumer demand for on-the-go content [will] require new types of audio/video content aggregation and delivery methods to provide interoperability for different types of content, including voice, text, social media, video streaming and virtual reality. Content delivery networks can follow a multiscreen strategy to provide a seamless experience across different modes of transportation, whether a personally owned vehicle, shared autonomous vehicle, train or city bus and not just be restricted to homes and smartphones. Content sourcing, creation, aggregation, pricing, bundling and distribution will likely undergo a gradual change as the mobility landscape evolves, given that the in-vehicle infotainment experience will be more immersive and engaging, delivering an augmented experience for the passenger as compared to media consumption on today’s tablets and smartphones.”
Deloitte also sees opportunity for telcos in fleet management of shared autonomous vehicles, vehicle and infrastructure data integration, and enabling interoperability among connectivity sources for connected and autonomous vehicles.
The push toward autonomous vehicles is well underway. In mid-January, the U.S. Department of Transportation designated 10 sites around the country for testing of autonomous vehicles, out of 60 proving ground applicants. Last week, the Toyota Research Institute showed off its newest autonomous research vehicle and noted its Automative Emergency Braking system will be standard equipment on “nearly every model and trim level of Lexus and Toyota vehicles in the U.S. by the end of 2017.” Volvo is about to introduce its new XC60 SUV at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, which will offer automatic steering assistance, blind spot alerts and an automatic braking feature the company says has resulted in 45% reduction in rear-end/frontal crashes in Sweden in cars equipped with the third generation of its technology.
Beyond the self-contained guidance systems for vehicles, the ability of vehicles to communicate with each other and with transportation systems is strongly tied to the potential of “5G” technologies to provide the necessary latency and capacity – and industry groups are collaborating to make sure that 5G supports the needs of automotive use cases. Last week at Mobile World Congress, the 5G Automotive Alliance and the European Automotive Telecom Alliance signed an agreement to partner on defining the needs for automotive use of advanced wireless technologies, including vehicle-to-x communications.
According to a statement from Erik Jonnaert, chairman of the EATA Steering Committee, the agreement “not only brings the different industry partners closer together, but also reinforces the European Commission’s strategy on cooperative, connected and automated mobility that was launched at the end of 2016. Car connectivity and automation will require a mix of communications technologies, but it is clear that 5G technology can become a key enabler of Europe’s digital highways.”
Image copyright: welcomia / 123RF Stock Photo
