Toyota and KDDI Corporation have partnered to establish a global communications platform. The platform will enable the operation of communications networks throughout the world to support car connectivity.
Toyota aims to bring greater connectivity to its vehicles, and to do so, a broad-reaching, robust comms platform and the use of a uniform data communications module (DCM) will be essential. The carmaker will develop such globally uniform DCMs by 2019 and they will be the standard equipment in “nearly all new Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold in Japan and the US by 2020,” before being “gradually installed in a range of new vehicles in other major markets over time.”
To work towards this goal, and to support communications between DCMs and cloud services, TMC and KDDI will jointly plan and design a global comms platform which the latter will develop and operate.
Toyota says that with this platform, globally uniform DCMs will be automatically connected with telcos in different countries. Following a changeover of carriers, DCMs can be connected without relying on global roaming services. Status and quality of telecommunications will be monitored, while adhering to regulations.
“Communications technology is essential to enhance vehicle connectivity and Toyota has been making efforts in this field for years. The joint establishment of this global communications platform with KDDI will help us offer a more stable and higher quality connectivity service to customers all over the world,” said Shigeki Tomoyama, senior managing officer at TMC.
Over a period of around 60 years, KDDI has built relationships with more than 600 telcos across the globe. Based on such relationships, Toyota and KDDI will jointly choose and procure networks in each country to incorporate into the platform.
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Can our toyotas in Malaysia globally communicate via this sytem to Toyota Japan to tell the HQ that our cars got no VSC?