AT&T takes over from Verizon Wireless, who was previously using its 4G network to work towards a research vehicle with GM, and believes that it will eventually generate up to a billion dollars in revenue.
“The excitement is you’re talking a car and turning it into a Smartphone with four wheels,” Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices for AT&T told reporters.
Benefits expected from AT&T’s superfast wireless connection include the ability to electronically track the condition and maintenance needs of the car, internet radio options, more accurate traffic data as well as television and movie streaming for back-seat passengers.
“Through this built-in 4G LTE connection we have the opportunity to reinvent the mobile experience inside a vehicle," said Mary Chan, president of GM's global connected consumer unit.
GM expects most Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac cars to get the wireless connection and although it looks to be the largest implementation of connected-cars to date, it is not the first.
Chrysler Group LLC announced its collaboration with Sprint last August to offer Chryslers Uconnect infotainment system, while Audi launched the 2013 Audi A3 with 4G LTE last month.
Several GM connected cards are said to be on display at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
