General Motors joins AT&T to offer 5G cellular connectivity to its vehicles coming off the assembly line over the next decade.
This rollout is part of GM and AT&T's broad strategy to launch the world's largest fleet of 5G-enabled vehicles and culminate a two-year collaboration, including test-driving connected vehicles in GM's 5G proving grounds in Milford, Michigan.
According to the statement issued by AT&T, it is working together with GM to set the benchmark for automotive connectivity with a fifth-generation cellular network architecture to meet the needs of an all-electric and autonomous future.
The 5G connectivity will first be available in select model year 2024 vehicles. Additionally, GM's fifth-generation network, current 4G LTE-equipped model year 2019 and newer vehicles will experience faster connectivity speeds and many of the same performance benefits of future 5G-equipped vehicles. Current Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac owners in the U.S. with 4G LTE-capable model year 2019 and newer vehicles will easily migrate to the new network infrastructure once available.
The high performance 5G core network will deliver a new standard with several enhancements, including improved roadway-centric coverage, faster music and video downloads with higher quality, faster, reliable and secure over-the-air software updates and swifter navigation, mapping, and voice services.
To support GM's rapid innovation and delivery of next-generation connected vehicle solutions, AT&T and Microsoft are bringing together the speed and reliability of AT&T's 5G network with Microsoft's scalable and secure cloud services.
GM offers OnStar and Connected Services2 to more than 16 million customers in the US and Canada. Since the launch of 4G LTE in 2014, GM owners have used more than 171 million gigabytes of data across their brands, equivalent to nearly 5.7 billion hours of music streamed or more than 716 million hours of streaming video.
Santiago Chamorro, Vice President, Global Connected Services, GM, said, 'As an in-vehicle connectivity leader, this rollout demonstrates our commitment to growth through software-enabled services and reimagining every customer touchpoint by enabling faster connectivity speeds to power in-vehicle voice-enabled services, navigation, and apps that our customers have grown to love.'
Gregory Wieboldt, Senior Vice President, Global Business, Industry Solutions, AT&T, said, 'We now connect more vehicles than any other carrier, and GM has played a critical role in our success.'