The introduction of mobile broadband changed my career.
My boss handed me an EV-DO Rev A modem to plug into my laptop’s PC slot and showed me how to connect. From there, everything was mobile.
I didn’t have to fool around by moving from Wi-Fi hotspot to Wi-Fi hotspot. My laptop could connect anywhere there was a 3G signal.
At the time, Verizon promised average download speeds of 450 to 800 kilobits per second (kbps) and upload speeds of 300 to 400 kbps, which was slow compared to Wi-Fi but still an impressive feat. With this wireless modem, I could do my work from anywhere…
And I did.
I’d work all the time. Whenever some important piece of breaking news happened, I’d be hunkered down in my laptop in seconds, talking to coworkers and contacts. Often I’d be in the car and have to pull over, break out the computer, and start working wherever I was parked.
At around the same time, many of my field-working colleagues were setting their vehicles up as mobile command stations.
Surveyors, mining and construction site managers, and environmental scientists were all beginning to benefit from this new data connection, too. But their connections weren’t coming from Verizon Wireless like mine was.
In 2007, a California-based company called Autonet Mobile took mobile broadband into the car, launching a 3G mobile router specifically for car and truck telematics systems that could also serve as a mobile hotspot. By 2009, the company had integrated its systems into Chrysler, Chevrolet, Dodge, and Volkswagen automobiles, as well as Avis rent-a-cars.
Of course, the lifespan of a single mobile communications protocol is pretty short because wireless licenses are scarce. When a new, faster technology is developed, an upgrade benefits a wireless network on the whole. As a result, pretty much every network has a hard stop planned into their networks.
Verizon Wireless said it’s going to sunset both its 2G and 3G networks in 2021. Everything will be 4G and beyond at that point.
There’s a need for simple-to-install 4G in-vehicle hotspots, and AT&T (NYSE: T) is launching its own in just a couple of days.
Announced at the annual CTIA Wireless conference in Las Vegas this week, AT&T’s plug-in vehicle hotspot is made by Chinese telecommunications company ZTE and connects to a vehicle’s OBD (onboard diagnostics) port. These ports are on nearly every car produced after 1996 and are the way repair shops find out important data about the vehicle.
This is the first time AT&T will offer Wi-Fi for motor vehicles, and it foretells a future where our cars will need a data plan. As cars get smarter with more driver assist systems or become full-blown cyber-chauffeurs, this is going to be a new recurring cost for drivers.
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With this device, called the Mobley, users can connect up to five wireless devices to AT&T’s 4G network in the car. The cost is an additional access charge of between $10 and $30 per month depending upon the subscriber’s original plan. The $20 plan has a 1GB usage limit, and the $30 has a 3GB limit.
You might not be the biggest connoisseur of mobile data, but if you have kids of the YouTube generation, you know that 1GB goes away like nothing.
In fact, if you were to open a single video stream on a road trip, you’d have about five hours worth of streaming before you hit your limit. Now imagine if you have two kids streaming two different things. A long family road trip could eat up this data in a heartbeat.
Verizon Wireless beat AT&T to the punch by more than a year with its Delphi Connect service from Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH), a device that provides remote access to the car’s systems as well as 4G-hotspot connectivity.
The Delphi system offers a lot of special features that won’t be present in AT&T’s Mobley, such as detailed trip data, speed alerts, and remote start functionality.
While Delphi’s remote services are more in line with the smart car ethos, the purpose-built nature of the Mobley will get consumers used to the sting of a new data bill.
Good Investing,
Tim Conneally
For the last seven years, Tim Conneally has covered the world of mobile and wireless technology, enterprise software, network hardware, and next generation consumer technology. Tim has previously written for long-running software news outlet Betanews and for financial media powerhouse Forbes.
