Anyone in the communications business can always find some numbers that will tell a good story. New data from Parks Associates on connected cars for example is giving us a pretty interesting picture of where the connected car ecosystem stands today in the U.S. and where it could take us in the future.
Here are some highlights:
- 16% of light vehicles in the U.S. will have an active Internet connection by the end of 2015
- 10% of vehicle owners in U.S. broadband households have access to built-in apps or can remotely control their vehicle using a mobile phone
- 12% can connect to a live agent for roadside assistance
- 17% have mapping and navigation capabilities
With the demand for connected features growing then, and the overlap with smartphones, it’s no surprise that 61% of car owners prefer to bundle vehicle data consumption with smartphone data consumption. A Parks Associates spokesperson however also advises that the connected car ecosystem has a lot more to offer than smartphones; pointing to smart homes and smart cities as areas of opportunity. The biggest hurdles she says are privacy and safety concerns.
What do you think are the biggest opportunities for the connected car?
By the Cel-Fi Team