Deutsche Telekom has signed a partnership with China Mobile to set up a network that will allow cars to access the internet, stream online music and communicate with each other.
In the latest sign of telecoms groups vying for a foothold in the fast-growing connected-car market, the pair will form a joint venture next year to provide a 4G platform in China to support the estimated 68m connected vehicles expected to be on the country’s roads by 2018.
Tech and telecoms groups from Apple to Orange are looking to tap the surge in demand for machine-to-machine communications via the internet – also known as the “internet of things”, which enables products from fridges to heart monitors to communicate and carry out tasks more efficiently.