Yesterday, Oberthur Technologies (OT), a leading global provider of embedded security solutions and Daimler AG, one of the world’s largest auto manufacturers of commercial vehicles, announced a new partnership to connect Mercedes-Benz passenger cars based on the GSMA’s Embedded SIM Specification.
The solution will be implemented in Daimler’s vehicles as early as March 2016, beginning with the new Mercedes-Benz E-class. The GSMA Specification will allow operators to provide connectivity for all such automobiles, enabling each car with services such as emergency calls, remote maintenance, telediagnostiscs, live traffic information, remote door locking and entertainment.
Because OT’s solution is fully compliant with the GSMA specification, it will enable remote subscription management technology, meaning that a mobile network operator can be selected ‘over-the-air’ without changing any physical components. As a result, the German car manufacturer will have access to a much greater market of operators across the globe. Ultimately, this makes it much easier for the auto manufacturer to ship market-ready connected cars to any location on the globe.
This partnership follows news in October 2015, stating that nearly 75 per cent of global M2M connections are now serviced by mobile operators that are deploying or are committed to the GSMA solution. This collaborative project underscores the momentum behind the specification, and as the number of adopters of the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification increases, economies of scale will drive down the cost.
It is clear that operators see the value of providing commercial solutions based on an interoperable and united global standard that will allow them to provide scalable, reliable and secure connectivity. For more information on the GSMA Embedded SIM Specification, please click here.