Connected cars are the third-fastest growing tech devices after smartphones and tablets. And quite fittingly, these autonomous vehicles are all the rage at CES so far, dominating a lot of the headlines we have received till date. Adding to that already bulky list is an announcement by American Center for Mobility and tech giant AT&T.
AT&T is teaming up with the centre, car companies and tech start-ups to test automated and connected vehicles. Interestingly, it is also going to provide network service to allow the cars to talk to infrastructure, pedestrians and also to another car. The center — a proposed 335 acre — will be the largest facility so far for testing autonomous cars. The current partnership will now essentially provide the center with a lot more data.
This technology is called vehicle-to- everything (V2X) and is currently being tested by a number of major automakers, suppliers and tech companies. This is a wise and revolutionary step taken by the company, keeping in mind the new rule proposed by the US Department of Transportation that requires all new light-duty vehicles to include vehicle-to- vehicle communication capabilities to avoid accidents on the road.
AT &T is also looking for cable companies in delivering broadband. On this basis, the company might be able to argue with the regulators that it is indeed going to deliver real benefits to consumers. Despite, Broadband being slow and expensive in the United States, AT&T has major plans to bring innovative new wireless solutions to the market.
Through AT&T Uverse, back seat riders would get access to the latest TV shows that they have missed or even attend video conferencing.
The American Centre for mobility will act as a test bed for V2X and connected and automated vehicle solutions. It also anticipates major changes in the ways we connect to and consume media. It wants to increase the number of wireless customers. AT&T ‘s mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said that he expects 20 million connected cars to hit the roads in the next three years.
