US-based automotive giant General Motors (GM) and US cellular network giant AT&T have announced a new collaboration to set up a new 5G network in the US. The new collaboration would bring 5G cellular connectivity to millions of GM vehicles coming off the assembly line over the next decade in the United States.
GM reports that the new network enhancement would aid improved roadway-centric coverage, faster music and video downloads with higher quality, faster and efficient over the air software updates and navigation and other similar services. It is part of GM and AT&T’s broad strategy to launch the world’s largest fleet of 5G-enabled vehicles and the culmination of a two-year collaboration, including test-driving connected vehicles at GM’s 5G proving grounds in Milford, Michigan. GM offers ‘OnStar’ and ‘Connected Services’ to more than 16 million customers in the U.S. and Canada. Since the launch of 4G LTE in 2014, GM owners have used more than 171 million gigabytes of data across its brands, which is equivalent to nearly 5.7 billion hours of music streamed or more than 716 million hours of streaming video.
The new 5G connectivity will be first available in the select models of GM vehicles after 2024. As per claims, the current Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac owners in the US with 4G-LTE capabilities will easily migrate to the new network infrastructure once available.
The 4G LTE and 5G network improvements GM is committed to its over-the-air update strategy. The fifth-generation network will also provide a strong foundation for more advanced technologies such as Super Cruise and Vehicle Intelligence Platform.
Santiago Chamorro, GM vice president of Global Connected Services said, “Together with AT&T, we’ve brought unprecedented experiences to the daily commute, family road trips and everything in between. As an in-vehicle connectivity leader, this rollout demonstrates our commitment to growth through software-enabled services and reimagining every customer touchpoint by enabling faster connectivity speeds to power in-vehicle voice-enabled services, navigation and apps that our customers have grown to love.”
Gregory Wieboldt, senior vice president, Global Business, Industry Solutions, AT&T said, “By connecting millions of GM vehicles to our nationwide 5G network, we will improve the customer experience for existing services while laying the groundwork for the next wave of innovation including autonomous driving. We now connect more vehicles than any other carrier and GM has played a critical role in our success. We’re honored to work alongside GM to usher the next chapter of connected driving.”
Previously, in 2014, AT &T and GM had launched in-vehicle WiFi Hotspots that dded Warner Media’s library of streaming content in 2020. Thus, enabling a host of connectivity features in millions of GM vehicles currently on the road.
GM plans to extend the benefits of the 5G network to raise the bar for interoperability and scale necessary to deliver future mobility services such as smart city, e-commerce, vehicle to electricity grid and more.
