WhichEV.Net
  • Buying Advice
  • Events
  • Features
  • News
    • All
    • Charging
    • Commercial Vehicles
    • Consumer Vehicles
    • Cool Car Tech
    • Curiosities
    • Design
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Industry
    • Legal
    • Market
    • Motorsport
    • Public Sector
    • Records
    • Rumours
    • Safety
    • Sharing

    FIA shows off new MINI Electric Formula E safety car

    ID.6 CROZZ by FAW and ID.6 X by SVW

    Volkswagen unveils ID.6 CROZZ and X – but only for China

    Volkswagen officially announces GTX performance model of ID.4

    Toyota teases RAV4-sized bZ4X electric SUV concept

    Ocado partners with Oxbotica to develop autonomous deliveries

    Mercedes aims for ID.4 and Model Y with 7-seat EQB

    Trending Tags

  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
WhichEV.Net
  • Buying Advice
  • Events
  • Features
  • News
    • All
    • Charging
    • Commercial Vehicles
    • Consumer Vehicles
    • Cool Car Tech
    • Curiosities
    • Design
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Industry
    • Legal
    • Market
    • Motorsport
    • Public Sector
    • Records
    • Rumours
    • Safety
    • Sharing

    FIA shows off new MINI Electric Formula E safety car

    ID.6 CROZZ by FAW and ID.6 X by SVW

    Volkswagen unveils ID.6 CROZZ and X – but only for China

    Volkswagen officially announces GTX performance model of ID.4

    Toyota teases RAV4-sized bZ4X electric SUV concept

    Ocado partners with Oxbotica to develop autonomous deliveries

    Mercedes aims for ID.4 and Model Y with 7-seat EQB

    Trending Tags

  • Reviews
No Result
View All Result
WhichEV.Net
No Result
View All Result
Home Features Analysis

Transatel: Car manufacturers need to regain control of their vehicles

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
18th November 2019 - Updated on 22nd April 2020
in Analysis, Features, Interviews
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Last updated on April 22nd, 2020 at 11:31 am

Most modern-day vehicles come with some form of entertainment system built-in. Be it through the audio package or a fully-fledged infotainment system. The latter has evolved over the years, to the point where it's more complex than ever before for a manufacturer to integrate its services.

Through most infotainment systems found within most modern-day EVs, you can tweak the behaviour of a vehicle, access climate controls, use it to navigate, make and receive calls, create a Wi-Fi hotspot, and in some cases even stream your favourite shows from Netflix and YouTube (among other service providers), plus a lot more.

The concept of having a car, truck or van in 2019 goes far beyond its primary purpose; manufacturers now integrate complex systems that make owning a vehicle more than just about the driving experience – it's about the entire journey; from summoning your car from afar to sitting in the driver's seat and navigating your way through traffic.

Part of that experience comes from the vehicle's connected services. Traditionally, automakers would seek the help of third-party companies or operators to enable such amenities. The issue that crops up is when automakers have to integrate with multiple partners, service providers and systems. To the point where they're not in full control of their own vehicles – vulnerabilities can get exposed to hackers and thieves, whereby they could potentially unlock, steal or even control a vehicle from a remote location.

Image credits: Transatel

To better manage a vehicle's system, an automaker has to have end-to-end control of its vehicles. For example, if a manufacturer releases a new vehicle with built-in 4G connectivity, 10-15 years down the line it could be made redundant. Furthermore, connectivity costs will set the manufacturer more money if they're tied into a single operator.

To better understand the subject, WhichEV spoke to Jacques Bonifay, CEO and founder of Transatel, a telecom corporation that works with car manufacturers: Jaguar, Land Rover and Jeep.

Transatel, in this space, is an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) enabler or MVNE (Mobile Virtual Network Enabler), which means they provide companies such as Jaguar, Land Rover and Jeep a means of operating with different mobile operators around the globe, without having to deal with each of them individually. In essence, Transatel is the middle man – they don't have a direct relationship with the automakers' customers, and they themselves, don't use the network for their own products or services.

Here, Jacques Bonifay said, “car manufacturers need to be independent of mobile operators and control what they provide to the vehicle; they [the car manufacturers] need to manage the entire ecosystem, from personal apps to services.” To break away from mobile operators, he said car manufacturers should look into an MVNO model, whereby they take on the ‘Do-It-Yourself approach'. However, this can be a lengthy, costly and complicated process – Transatel makes that transition a lot simpler.

In our interview with Jacques Bonifay, he explained how a car manufacturer would approach a global launch of a connected vehicle: “to deploy your solutions, you need something that works worldwide. If you integrate with Vodafone in Europe, then go to AT&T for North America, then to Telefonica for South America and China Unicom for Asia – things can get complicated.”

Image credits: Transatel

“You [the automaker] have to integrate with each of them; so when you can use one service [such as Transatel] that localises all of them, it makes the global rollout of a car much simpler as you only need one system. This system should be unique to yourself, which means you don’t have to use other networks, whereby you can choose which operator you wish to work with and state your terms for integration.”

Ultimately, what Jacques Bonifay was trying to say is: having a single, global solution makes having a connected vehicle a lot simpler. With consumers now looking into what service an automaker can provide, it's increasingly important for them to provide a comprehensive package. To paraphrase Jaques' words: “it's not only about the price, design and brand of the vehicle” – there are now a lot higher expectations from consumers.

For example, would you prefer to have a car that provides over-the-air (OTA) updates and grants you access to new features every couple of months, or would you rather own one that never changes after it's left the factory? We suspect it's the former, especially if the OTA updates offer you a better experience.

Transatel is part of the NTT Group and offers Ubigi, a customer-facing mobile data service to vehicle manufacturers around the world. You can find out more about the company, by visiting Transatel's website.

Tags: Connected CarsElectric VehicleTransatel
Previous Post

Audi faces off with Porsche, Mercedes and BMW in Formula E

Next Post

VW Chairman promises 75 electric vehicles by 2029

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Experienced writers from the automobile and technology sectors - working with the in-house EV editorial team to deliver top quality, independent content in a timely fashion.

Related Posts

Was the UK government plug-in car grant cut actually a good thing?

15th April 2021

The great battery race: Brexit could put the brakes on the UK’s electric vehicle industry

12th March 2021

Why battery recycling is as important as local production

4th March 2021

How Connected Kerb is helping solve the EV charging infrastructure problem

25th January 2021
Next Post

VW Chairman promises 75 electric vehicles by 2029

Discussion about this post

Review Finder

Latest News

FIA shows off new MINI Electric Formula E safety car

22nd April 2021
ID.6 CROZZ by FAW and ID.6 X by SVW

Volkswagen unveils ID.6 CROZZ and X – but only for China

22nd April 2021

Volkswagen officially announces GTX performance model of ID.4

21st April 2021

Trending

  • How to turn your favourite classic car into an EV

    672 shares
    Share 286 Tweet 161
  • Future electric cars: Best upcoming electric cars, SUVs and pickup trucks – 2021 UPDATE!

    562 shares
    Share 241 Tweet 134
  • WhichEV Awards 2020: The Year’s Best EVs

    503 shares
    Share 207 Tweet 123
  • How will European brands react to a sub-£8,000 electric car with four doors?

    395 shares
    Share 167 Tweet 95
  • MG ZS EV review: The best budget all-electric SUV

    384 shares
    Share 161 Tweet 93
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact the WhichEV team today

© 2020 WhichEV. Limited - All of the independent news and expert reviews you need in one publication.

No Result
View All Result
  • Buying Advice
  • Events
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews

© 2020 WhichEV. Limited - All of the independent news and expert reviews you need in one publication.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.