KT’s connected car service will be added to Tesla, an American electric vehicle manufacturer sold in Korea. It is predicted that KT will join hands with Tesla to spur the development of the connected car service and grow the mobility business in earnest.
According to the industry on the 14th, KT and Tesla plan to sign a contract to apply the Genie Music streaming service developed based on KT’s connected car service to all domestic Tesla vehicles as early as this month. Tesla drivers can enjoy streaming Genie Music using the vehicle’s LTE and 5G network without connecting a smartphone.
The connected car is a future car that is connected to a communication network so that various information technology (IT) services can be used. Connected cars are attracting attention as the vehicle interior emerges as a new’living space’ amid the development of autonomous driving technology. The forefront is Integrated Infotainment for Vehicles (IVI). IVI is a platform where you can enjoy high-capacity content such as ultra-high definition and high-quality sound in a vehicle through a 5G communication network in real time. Cooperation between telecom companies and car manufacturers is essential.
KT has set an internal policy this year to fully target the connected car market using IVI. It is a strategy to grow the mobility business based on the connected car service by combining 5G communication technology, which is the biggest strength, and media and content capabilities.
To this end, we are strengthening cooperation with automakers. Recently, Hyundai Motor Group’s new car Genesis GV70 also decided to install the Genie Music streaming service. It will also be applied to Genesis G80 and GV80. In addition, it is jointly developing a connected car service with Mercedes. Last year, it signed a contract with Renault Samsung to provide the next-generation connected car service. In addition to Genie Music, podcasts and navigation were applied, and’Artificial Intelligence (AI) Auto Assistant’ will be added within this year. AI Auto Assistant is a service that suggests a destination according to the driver’s schedule or recommends nearby gas stations and service stations according to the condition of the vehicle, and manages the temperature, humidity, and air quality in the vehicle. There are 14 domestic and overseas automakers that have applied KT’s connected car service, and KT plans to increase it this year.
It is reported that KT and Tesla are also planning additional cooperation. There are observations that KT will provide customized infotainment services by installing its own AI’Gi Genie’ on Tesla. GiGA Genie can be used to provide specialized services that connect vehicles and houses.
A KT official said, “There are currently only millions of connected cars, but all new cars are connected cars in the future, so if the scale increases to tens of millions, it will become a huge platform.”
The connected car competition between domestic automakers and telecom companies is also expected to intensify. SK Telecom supplies infotainment for vehicles to BMW, Volvo and Jaguar. LG Uplus is also collaborating with Peugeot in connected cars.
[임영신 기자 / 이종혁 기자]
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