During the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 New York Auto Summit on Wednesday, General Motors's Chief Financial Officer Chuck Stevens, said that the company's OnStar 4G LTE WiFi hotspot service in cars and trucks could generate $350 million in improved profits for the company over the next three years. General Motor's OnStar is the company's vehicle connectivity platform that was introduced in 1996 to power embedded telematics, that allowed drivers to access services such as vehicle diagnostics, concierge and emergency assistance. With 4G LTE, the OnStar service now features Wi-Fi hotspot in the car, powering connectivity for devices on-board and enabling a wide range of infotainment as well as safety services for drivers and passengers.
Referring to GM's OnStar 4G LTE connection as an "untapped, under-appreciated opportunity", Chuck foresees advanced diagnostics, GM financial and remote updates as some of the key drivers for the revenues expected from its in-vehicle connectivity offering.
To deliver 4G LTE connectivity, the Detroid-based No.1 U.S. automaker has partnered with the country's second largest mobile operator, AT&T, to equip millions of GM cars, trucks and crossovers with 4G LTE mobile Internet access. The high-speed mobile broadband connectivity enables the auto-maker to bring infotainment services such as streaming audio, web access, applications and video as well as internet access for laptop computers, smartphones, video game consoles or tablets on board the vehicle.
GM has todate, launched 4G LTE in more than 30 of its 2015-model vehicles in North America and is expanding the rollout of OnStar 4G LTE through Europe, Mexico and other parts of the world in the next few years.
