GM repalces Verizon with AT&T on OnStar

[bigsnake49]

GM has kicked Verizon to the curb and will instead now use AT&T's LTE network to power embedded broadband services in the company's vehicles. According to company press statements, the AT&T LTE network will now power GM's safety and security services offered by OnStar, as well as a "new suite of infotainment services like streaming audio, web access, applications, and even video for backseat passengers." Further details of the partnership are expected to be announced this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The partnership will start with 2015 models that will hit the market in 2014 in both Canada and the United States.

 

I hope that Sprint gets into the telematics game.

[WiWavelength]

Wow, that "upgrade" will cause a lot of areas in the western US to lose OnStar coverage.

 

AJ

[miguell2]

My guess is that the fees were getting a bit excessive... I can't imagine AT&T is considerably cheaper...

[centermedic]

Wow, that "upgrade" will cause a lot of areas in the western US to lose OnStar coverage.

 

AJ

That was my first thought.

[lordsutch]

I doubt it's just about fees; it's also about technology. After all GM is selling their cars on both sides of the US-Canadian border, and it wouldn't surprise me if CDMA started to go away in rural Canada in the next 3-5 years - none of the big boys up north are marketing CDMA anymore (and only one of the new entrants, on their PCS G block, is CDMA), leaving CDMA essentially for legacy users and US roamers. GM's not going to build two different OnStar systems for Canada and the U.S. if they can help it, since everything else about the cars is basically the same - reprogram the ECM to enable the DRLs and switch the speedometer and odometer to metric, and you have a Canadian-spec car.

 

Plus with VZW's promises to make CDMA go away in a similar timeframe in the US, the last thing GM wants is to get saddled with more customer complaints about dead OnStar systems (remember, gen 1 OnStar was analog, which died when AMPS did).

[MacinJosh]

I doubt it's just about fees; it's also about technology. After all GM is selling their cars on both sides of the US-Canadian border' date=' and it wouldn't surprise me if CDMA started to go away in rural Canada in the next 3-5 years - none of the big boys up north are marketing CDMA anymore (and only one of the new entrants, on their PCS G block, is CDMA), leaving CDMA essentially for legacy users and US roamers. GM's not going to build two different OnStar systems for Canada and the U.S. if they can help it, since everything else about the cars is basically the same - reprogram the ECM to enable the DRLs and switch the speedometer and odometer to metric, and you have a Canadian-spec car.

 

Plus with VZW's promises to make CDMA go away in a similar timeframe in the US, the last thing GM wants is to get saddled with more customer complaints about dead OnStar systems (remember, gen 1 OnStar was analog, which died when AMPS did).[/quote']

 

My friend has an 01 Buick Park Avenue that had analog OnStar. I was glad when it wasn't upgradeable.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Forum Runner

[centermedic]

 

 

I hope that Sprint gets into the telematics game.

They are...hopefully.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/11/sprint-velocity/

[Deval]

GM has kicked Verizon to the curb and will instead now use AT&T's LTE network to power embedded broadband services in the company's vehicles. According to company press statements, the AT&T LTE network will now power GM's safety and security services offered by OnStar, as well as a "new suite of infotainment services like streaming audio, web access, applications, and even video for backseat passengers." Further details of the partnership are expected to be announced this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The partnership will start with 2015 models that will hit the market in 2014 in both Canada and the United States.

 

I hope that Sprint gets into the telematics game.

 

They have been in the game for some time now.

 

http://www.geotab.com/, http://www.drivecam.com/

 

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