Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 22

22

* OCTOBER 2017

Canada's cellular market blamed
for leisurely pace of connectivity
But new
partnerships with
automakers might
close the gap with
more robust
U.S. services
By STEVE MERTL

VA N C O U V E R C O R R E S P O N D E N T

VEHICLE CONNECTIVITY
has been slower to roll out in
Canada than in the United
States for familiar reasons;
the size of the Canadian market compared with its geographic breadth, and a lack of
competition among wireless
service providers.
But that's changing.
Bell Canada, via its Bell
Mobility unit, appears to be
the first to partner direct-

ly with an automaker; it has
hooked up with Hyundai
AutoEver Telematics America
(HATA) to offer a suite of connectivity features on new
Hyundai and Kia models.
Others are not far behind.
Ken Gouveia, Bell Mobility's
director of information technology services, said it is in
talks with other automakers, however, "I can't divulge
before they launch," he said in
an interview with Automotive
News Canada.
Toyota Canada said it was
readying the launch of new
connectivity and safety features but would not discuss
details.

WIDE-RANGING FEATURES
The term "connected vehicle" covers a broad range of
features from smartphone
pairing to apps that allow

Ford, in partnership with Dominos Pizza in the United States,
is pioneering autonomous pizza delivery through connected
networks. ( P H O T O : F O R D )

music streaming, web-based
navigation and access to roadside assistance and other services. Advanced innovations
include vehicle diagnostics,
the ability to download vehicle software updates and, ultimately, autonomous-vehicle
operation.
Some platforms create
in-car wireless hotspots
accessible to passengers
and their devices, which
the Hyundai-Bell product
currently excludes.
"It was decided in-car
was not a critical feature
for Hyundai to include in
the launch of BlueLink,"
said Hyundai Canada
spokesman Chad Heard.
"But it's possible for the
company to revisit that
feature in the future
if customer demand
exists."
The service, dubbed
BlueLink for Hyundai vehicles and UVO Intelligence on
Kia models, provides features
such as roadside assistance,
automatic collision notification and on-demand diagnostics, as well as integration of
third-party apps.
"BlueLink enhances ownership by providing customers more information about -
and control over - their vehicle," said Heard.
It does not require an
existing Bell account, is
complimentary for the first

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Autonomous cars of the
future will require constant
data transfer via digital networks, making partnerships
between automakers and cellular companies vital.

five years of ownership and fully transferrable. Heard said a fee for the
service after five years has
not been determined. Ford
last year introduced SYNC
Connect, which integrates
a 4G LTE modem into Ford
vehicles. When paired with
the FordPass smartphone app,
features such as remote locking, unlocking and starting,
vehicle location and roadside
assistance can be used.

WIRELESS COSTS
General Motors pioneered
vehicle connectivity with
OnStar, offering features such
as route planning, anti-theft
security and crash response
in tiered monthly and annual
plans. Many GM models offer
Wi-Fi hotspots, allowing passengers to surf the Internet
from their laptop computers, or with cellphones more
quickly and without dipping
into their data plans.
Canada and the United
States are different markets
for connectivity, said Masha
Marinkovic, GM Canada's
brand, product and technology communications manager.
"In the U.S., all the major
carriers are offering unlimited data plans to their customers, while there is not a
carrier in Canada among the
major providers that offers
a comparable plan," she said
via email. "The differences
in the major carriers' plan
offerings are driving access to
enhanced connectivity availability."
Marinkovic said GM
Canada continues to look at
different options to enhance
the connected services it
offers.
Bell's Gouveia said some of
the difference is down to federal policy that requires wireless
companies to provide basic
services to urban and rural
communities, which doesn't
apply in the more densely populated United States that has
more wireless options. That
limits the kind of plans they

can offer profitably.
"From our perspective,
there's a different cost reality and hence that drives a
different pricing reality as a
result," Gouveia said. "It's not
unique to connected cars."

PLUG-IN DEVICE
Rogers Wireless has gone
a different route, recently launching Smart Drive,
a device that plugs into a
vehicle's onboard diagnostics (OBD) port to provide
connectivity and create an
in-car Wi-Fi hotspot. Smart
Drive, which uses a connectivity platform developed by
Vancouver-based Mojio, can
be used with a dedicated plan
or added to Rogers' Share
Everything plan.
Rogers said it was the
first Canadian wireless provider to offer such a device.
But in September 2014, Telus
announced it would offer a
similar Mojio-powered device
to connect to its network.

NEW STRATEGY
Mojio marketing head
Kyle MacDonald said it was
a first-generation device sold
directly to consumers with
Telus only providing basic
connectivity to Mojio's data
cloud, with no other involvement by the Canadian telco.
The following year Mojio
moved away from direct sales
to a business-to-business
approach, partnering with
Rogers. MacDonald said a limited number of those devices
were sold. Telus did not reply
to requests by Automotive
News Canada for information
about its vehicle connectivity
strategy.
Gouveia said he believes
the relationship with local
wireless providers will grow
stronger as automakers see
their value, but projections
vary on how quickly the connectivity market will grow.
"I'll be honest, the [automakers] have given us a wide
range of forecasts on that
side," said Gouveia, adding
that thousands of vehicles
sold each year are capable of
taking these services.
"The question is, what is
adoption going to be?" - ANC


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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - October 2017

Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - Intro
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 1
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 2
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 3
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 4
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 5
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 6
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 7
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 8
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 9
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 10
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 11
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 12
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 13
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 14
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 15
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 16
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 17
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 18
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 19
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 20
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 21
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 22
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 23
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 24
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 25
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 26
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 27
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 28
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 29
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 30
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 31
Automotive News Canada - October 2017 - 32
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