By Mike Colias, Crain News Service
DETROIT (Feb. 25, 2013) — Laying down a high-stakes bet on the future of vehicle connectivity, General Motors Co. plans to make each of its cars an Internet hotspot with a high-speed broadband connection.
By mid-2014, GM will team with AT&T Inc. to equip most 2015 models in the U.S. and Canada with 4G LTE broadband, the fastest type of wireless Internet connection now available. GM said it eventually will offer the service across nearly its entire global lineup.
Most in-car systems now require a linked smartphone to get Internet content such as Pandora online radio or live traffic information. GM's plan to build in wireless capability will untether users from outside devices.
GM's decision is the strongest signal yet that auto makers are moving toward embedded solutions—rather than drivers' smartphones—to offer a faster, more-reliable connection to infotainment offerings.
Perhaps just as important, hard-wiring cars with broadband will make it easy to upgrade infotainment units without hardware changes so buyers aren't stuck with an outmoded system a year or two after purchase.
GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky is expected to unveil the plan today, Feb. 25, at the Mobile World Congress convention in Barcelona, Spain.
Although GM's proposal is the most ambitious bet on embedded broadband so far, it's not the only one. Audi will offer 4G LTE service on the A3 in Europe this year and in the U.S. in 2014.
Last year Mercedes-Benz launched a system with embedded connectivity for most models, but with slower 3G technology. And Chrysler Group L.L.C. offers an embedded 3G system on three nameplates.
GM's system still will allow for smartphone connections to touchscreen infotainment systems, such as Chevrolet MyLink or Cadillac's CUE system. But the 4G LTE connection will provide new capabilities, such as streaming video for backseat passengers and updating the navigation system remotely.
And because the system will provide a true hotspot, it would provide an Internet connection for such devices as an iPad.
A GM spokeswoman would not discuss cost.
Mark Boyadjis, an IHS Automotive analyst, said continuing to allow users to connect through their mobile devices is important because some buyers won't want to pay both a monthly subscription for their car's mobile service and a cell phone bill.
But Mr. Boyadjis said GM and other auto makers want their own in-vehicle broadband connections to offer more and faster features, such as live traffic reports. And they want to avoid compatibility problems that can stem from varying wireless standards around the globe.
The technology will be rolled out across most of GM's vehicles globally, said Mary Chan, head of GM's infotainment and OnStar division. In coming months, Ms. Chan expects to forge partnerships with suppliers and wireless carriers in other regions.
"GM and our partners have the opportunity to reinvent the mobile experience inside the vehicle," Ms. Chan said.
This report appeared in Automotive News, a Detroit-based sister publication of Tire Business.