Verizon Wireless, Wingcast To Equip Autos with Bells and Whistles
By Jay Wrolstad, Wireless.NewsFactor.com
As it prepares to launch next year, telematics provider Wingcast is putting together all the pieces of a comprehensive automotive communications system. The company said it added a major component with a commitment from Verizon Wireless to deliver voice and data services for vehicles outfitted with the Wingcast service.
Established a year ago as a joint venture between Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F - news) and Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM - news), Wingcast promises to offer such in-dash options as hands-free, high-speed communications, location-based applications, GPS (global positioning system) and a variety of other wireless services.
Wingcast will be available in selected Ford and Nissan vehicles beginning with the 2003 model year, the company said. Some one million vehicles initially will include the system.
The exclusive alliance with the nation's largest wireless carrier gives Wingcast access to Verizon's CDMA (news - web sites) (code division multiple access) network, and the two companies said they will jointly develop voice pricing plans and service bundles for Wingcast customers.
Natural Move
Wingcast communications director Mary Palmer told Wireless NewsFactor that the agreement was a natural move for the company, given its ties to Qualcomm and commitment to CDMA technology.
"Verizon Wireless has shown an interest in expanding its advanced-CDMA network, and the services and content we will be able to deliver will continue to grow," she said, citing e-mail delivery and backseat videos among future options.
Palmer also said that by becoming a reseller, Wingcast can create its own price plans and can offer single billing to its customers for both voice and data service -- a significant benefit for the company's billing department.
Office on Wheels
"This will provide our customers with the broadest available coverage footprint, providing access from almost anywhere in the country. We also will be able to access the latest voice and data services available through Verizon Wireless' continued expansion of its digital network," Wingcast CEO Harel Kodesh said.
Besides extensive network coverage, Wingcast said, the company will gain the use of Verizon's Express Network service -- when and where it is available -- for high-speed data transmission, with applications that include e-mail and enterprise software, graphics, access to intranet and Internet services, instant messaging and streaming video.
Armed for Competition
Ford is playing catch-up with rival General Motors (NYSE: GM - news) in the race to deliver telematics, as GM already has its OnStar system in nearly two million vehicles. And virtually all automakers are focusing on this market, which analysts predict will total US$42 billion by 2010 -- if customers can be sold on the need for all of these bells and whistles.
To make its offering more attractive, Wingcast in recent months has enlisted Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW - news) to furnish the backbone for its telematics system and has tapped software providers Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL - news) and Kana to develop voice-activated access to CRM and ERP systems.
Ford has projected that more than one million of its new vehicles will be equipped with Wingcast by the end of 2002. The company said that number should rise to 3 million by 2003, and added that all of its cars and trucks will offer the telematics service by year-end 2004.
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