Connected cars not yet a priority for operators

Connected Cars Scored Low On Telecoms Firms' List Of Potential Service Revenue Generators In The Telecoms.com Industry Survey 2013

Despite the efforts being made in the automotive market towards enabling connectivity in vehicles, connected cars currently present the least potential service revenue opportunities for mobile operators, according to data from the Telecoms.com Intelligence Industry Survey 2013.

When asked to rate non-telco sectors on the potential service revenue opportunities they offer to mobile operators, 63.3 per cent of respondents rated the automotive sector as offering very low to average opportunity.

Conversely, 76.1 per cent of respondents saw high to very high opportunity in the payment/banking sector, and 71.7 per cent did so in the media content space.

The automotive market was not the only non-telco sector that respondents did not rate as an immediate priority. Opportunity in the education space was almost evenly split with 52 per cent rating it as average to very low. In fact, the percentage that saw very low potential service revenue opportunities in the education space (5.5 per cent) was similar to the 5.1 per cent who saw very low opportunity in the automotive sector.

Retail, advertising/marketing, health, transport and utilites were all rated as having higher potential service revenue opportunities for operators than the automotive and education sectors, but less than the payment/banking and media content sectors.

Despite the apparent lack of focus on the automotive market by those in the telecommunications sector, automotive players are still very keen on championing in-car connectivity. Auto manufacturers Toyota and Ford showcased new technologies at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Toyota demonstrated its autonomous driving technologies at the show, through its high-end Lexus brand, while Ford showcased its in-car integration of the Android app Kaliki. Kaliki curates the top news stories from major newspapers and magazines and provides an audio version for on-demand playback in the vehicle.

To register to receive your free copy of the full report from the Telecoms.com Intelligence 2013 Industry Survey when it is released on February 18^th, click here.