DETROIT — AT&T today announced an agreement with OnStar LLC, a subsidiary of General Motors, to wirelessly deliver an enhanced suite of safety, security, diagnostic, and infotainment services to most Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles, beginning in 2014 in the United States and Canada.
The multi-year agreement calls for AT&T to enable millions of GM cars, trucks, and crossovers with 4G LTE mobile Internet access, providing the latest wireless technology to power GM’s safety and security services offered by OnStar, as well as a new suite of infotainment services like streaming audio, web access, applications, and video for backseat passengers.
AT&T will also enable GM’s in-vehicle Wi-Fi hotspots and voice calling services. These enhancements build on OnStar’s existing portfolio of connected services, first introduced in GM vehicles in 1996. Contractual and financial details of the agreement are not being disclosed.
“Introducing 4G LTE into GM vehicles is a game-changing opportunity, and we couldn’t be better positioned to help drive this movement,” Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility, said. “We’re working closely with GM to grow the connected car base and provide unique and relevant services that will improve the connected experience inside automobiles for both drivers and passengers.”
“By adding a fast, reliable and built-in 4G LTE connection specifically designed for vehicles, we can drive innovation to enhance virtually every aspect of the driving and riding experience — from safety and diagnostics to entertainment to integration of emerging third-party applications,” Mary Chan, president of Global Connected Consumer, General Motors, said. “Through this built-in 4G LTE connection we have the opportunity to reinvent the mobile experience inside a vehicle.”
Beyond 4G LTE connectivity, AT&T and GM will work together as part of a broad ecosystem focused on development of new communication applications for the vehicle designed to deliver more efficiency while also enhancing the driving and riding experience.
GM will preview a series of conceptual connected services at GSMA’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week in the AT&T-sponsored area of the Connected City. GM’s move to integrate 4G LTE services in vehicles in the U.S. and Canada is part of a broader global strategy.
GM and AT&T first teamed in January when GM sponsored a Connected Car Challenge as part of an AT&T Hackathon for mobile app developers in Las Vegas. During the event, GM introduced a new set of vehicle application programming interfaces (APIs), enabling developers to build apps for GM vehicles’ infotainment systems. The GM SDK (software developers’ kit) also offers a new flexible application framework that will allow drivers to add apps and features to their vehicles after purchase.
