Motorola has announced a telematics alliance with Trafficmaster.
Competition within the vehicle telematics industry is increasing, as players in telecommunications, navigational systems and vehicle manufacturing begin to realize the potential. Motorola has announced the creation of its iRadio telematics system, delivering picture entertainment, information, navigation and communication in a single wireless package. This will be fitted to new vehicles in 18 to 24 months, and will allow users to synchronize their mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants) by incorporating infrared wireless connections.
Whilst Motorola clearly has the technological expertise to create a telematics system, it is the deal with Trafficmaster that will give it true competitive advantage. Trafficmaster excels in the collection of quality information to the point where other telematics companies might have to buy it from them. The core of the deal is turn-by-turn navigation, which will be offered through the vehicle’s radio speakers for $425, or a subscription of about $10 per month, significantly less than original equipment systems like Mercedes-Benz’ Command system.
The arrangement has the potential to offer a great deal more. Motorola hopes iRadio will incorporate the real time route planning and instruction with additional services such as public-interest destination identification; local information updates, user-specific news and stock portfolio updates; and hands-free telephony, voice mail and email access. The information Motorola can obtain would prove invaluable not only to vehicle manufacturers, who will use these systems to build on their CRM initiatives, but to media companies who can serve the driver with these tailored information packages.
Vehicle manufacturers such as Ford are beginning to offer telematics systems in their vehicles, and they have started the revolution. But they will need heavy investment to match the expertise of the Motorola-Trafficmaster alliance, particularly when the service they offer is so competitively priced.
