Swedish telecommunications firm Telia has announced expansion plans for its connected car service in new markets in both Northern and Eastern Europe. The connected car service which is entitled Telia Sense, is a cloud-based platform that offers connected car services to both old and new vehicles has proved to be a massive success following its deployments in Sweden and Denmark.
Head of Industry verticals for its Internet of Things division, Jens-Peter Meesenburg said that the Swedish operator is confident it will launch in one more market before the end of 2017. He said, "The plan going forward is it [Telia Sense] should go across the whole footprint. The solution and whole way of doing it is designed to launch cross-market."
Telia launched Sense in November last year, and six months later it expanded its connected car services platform to Denmark. The firm has also established a presence with Sense in Norway, Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Its latest announcement that it will extend its service to parts of Northern and Eastern Europe will see it attempt to penetrate at least five new markets.
The unique platform has been a hit with customers due to its vast range of applications for both consumer and business use based on data from the car’s location, driver performance and mechanical information. The Swedish telecommunications titan has also brokered a number of collaborations and partnerships with automotive related companies, which include businesses in insurance and roadside assistance.
Meesenberg highlighted the importance of establishing such partnerships before launching the service, and declared it was critical to meet directly with local dealerships. He said, "You can’t do this on your own. You need to go in and talk to the local insurance companies, car dealerships, parking and local Telia. This is a new service area."
However, Messenberg did concede that the level of demand for the service from both industry partners and consumers was much higher than originally forecast, due to a combination of subscribers and companies looking to utilize the system for a wide range of different reasons. The connected car services platform was developed by fellow-Swedish firm Springworks, which has claimed is currently in discussions with operators from all over the world in a bid to roll-out its model in other countries.