Verizon 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars Looks to Drive the Telematics Industry Forward

It seems as though connected cars may just be the next big thing in the automotive industry, what with Facebook looking to integrate with future Mercedes-Benz vehicles and Sierra Wireless installing AirPrime embedded wireless LTE modules in Audi cars. It looks as though another major player has entered the LTE-enabled vehicle ring, Verizon.

Today, in a press release, the wireless provider said that it has formed the "4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars," a group of leading automotive companies brought together to "accelerate the pace of innovation across the automotive and telematics 4G LTE ecosystem." BMW, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors and Toyota Motor Sales, Inc. have already joined Verizon to make up the initial members of the Forum.

Professor Sanjay Sarma of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has also joined, providing his expertise in tracking important advancements in related academic research. Together, the members of the Forum will "collaborate and explore ways to deliver connectivity to vehicles of all types, by leveraging open standards and discussing ways to accelerate development of the 4G LTE ecosystem across automotive OEMs, suppliers, device manufacturers, application developers and content publishers."

Tami Erwin, chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, said, “There are many challenges to designing next generation telematics and infotainment solutions, including supporting safe and responsible driving, advancing vehicle-to-vehicle solutions and improving sustainability, among others. As an innovator in the technology industry, Verizon is a natural impetus for this collaboration, which we all expect will include other companies and spur results that will benefit not only the industry, but millions of consumers around the world.”

The 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars hopes to help discover ways to increase the value of telematics services, including embedded cloud solutions and mobile applications as well as encouraging third-party developers in the space.

The 4G Venture Forum for Connected Cars expands on the 4G Venture Forum, which was created in 2009 to identify and support new ideas in terms of advanced wireless networks.