Verizon announces a "second-to-none connected-vehicle experience" for your new BMW

Verizon Business, Japan's KDDI and Germany's BMW Group have teamed up to bring a new generation of connected vehicles to US roads.

Under the partnership, Verizon will provide 5G and LTE connectivity for newly manufactured BMW, MINI and other BMW Group vehicles sold in the United States, giving drivers access to a wide range of digital services straight from their cars.

KDDI is one of Japan's largest telecommunications companies. It provides mobile, broadband and enterprise connectivity services and also operates global IoT and connected vehicle platforms for automakers and other businesses.

The BMW Connected Drive

The built-in connection powers BMW Connected Drive, allowing vehicles to support navigation updates, remote vehicle controls, infotainment features, app integration and telematics without relying solely on a driver's smartphone.

Behind the scenes, KDDI's Global Communications Platform manages the connectivity, while Verizon's nationwide wireless network delivers the data securely to and from the vehicle. Verizon calls it "a second-to-none connected-vehicle experience".

The companies say the new BMW models are the first vehicles to use Verizon's 5G Standalone connected-car platform, built on its dedicated 5G core and the latest 3GPP Release 16 standards. The goal is to provide a faster, more reliable connection that can support increasingly sophisticated vehicle software as cars become more connected over time.

Expanded capabilities

While streaming music and remotely locking your doors are convenient, connected vehicles are about much more than comfort. Modern cars are rapidly becoming rolling computers packed with sensors, cameras and software that constantly exchange information with cloud services and nearby infrastructure.

That connectivity is expected to play an even bigger role as the automotive industry moves toward more advanced driver-assistance systems and – rather sooner than later – autonomous driving. Although self-driving vehicles can function without 5G, the technology makes them significantly more practical thanks to its lower latency and greater reliability.

Fast communication allows vehicles to react more quickly to changing road conditions and share information almost instantly. Future connected cars will be able to communicate not only with other vehicles but also with traffic lights, road infrastructure, pedestrians and cloud platforms through what's known as cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology.

We need data

This constant exchange of data could help reduce accidents, improve traffic flow and give vehicles a deeper understanding of what's happening beyond the reach of their own sensors. Combined with edge computing, drivers can receive important information with minimal delay.

Partnerships like the one between Verizon, KDDI and BMW show how mobile operators and automakers are preparing the infrastructure needed for the next generation of transportation.

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