Recent Press Releases

Telecom Veteran Named CIO of Global Telematics Provider ATX

ATXgroup — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:53:16 -0700

DALLAS-FORT WORTH, June 9, 2008 - ATX Group, the world’s largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry, today announced the appointment of Chris Nabinger as executive vice president and chief information officer. Nabinger previously served as senior vice president and chief technology officer for Masergy Communications, a Dallas-based global telecommunications service provider that provides unique customer controlled and embedded enterprise network applications.

As CIO at ATX, Nabinger will be responsible for ATX’s T3 or third-generation Telematics system development and architecture, global information technology business solutions, and network infrastructure and telecommunications.

“Chris has extensive experience at companies that have realized the same level of growth that ATX has, and at businesses that have been at the same point of the ‘lifecycle’ of their industry that ATX currently is in (within the telematics industry),” said ATX President and CEO Steve Millstein. “He is very knowledgeable about partnering with large customers to meet their challenging, time-sensitive requirements.”

Earlier in his career, Nabinger was chief executive officer of Soniya Technologies International, another firm involved in satellite location-based applications, and served in senior information technology positions at Polycom, Philips Components, InfoSpace and GTE. He began his career with Southwestern Bell Corporation.

eCall Provider ATX Group Among Organizations Uniting to Improve European Emergency Response

ATXgroup — Wed, 28 May 2008 09:43:32 -0700

European Emergency Number Association announces that its new Advisory Board has been joined by 30 major political, association and solution providers to improve European emergency response, 1-1-2

BRUSSELS, MAY 28, 2008 --- ATX Group of Düsseldorf, Germany, the world’s largest independent telematics services provider to the global automotive industry, is among 30 major organizations named today by the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) to a new Advisory Board dedicated to reinforcing the advocacy organization’s leading role as the “Voice of 1-1-2” in the European Union.

This new Board represents a variety of stakeholders --- politicians, professional user organizations and technology and solution providers --- committed to enhancing emergency response across Europe, the implementation and operation of a pan-European 1-1-2 number (similar to 9-1-1 in North America). A list of Board members is available at www.eena.org.

ATX’s menu of Telematics services includes monitoring and verifying location-based eCalls from vehicles, including advanced automatic collision notification, which provides emergency responders with crash severity information aggregated from various in-vehicle sensors along with vehicle location (via satellite positioning), vehicle description, direction of travel, and a voice connection into the vehicle. Since its inception, ATX has worked closely with Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) in both North America and Europe, bridging emergency responders with motorists in need regardless of the level of technology in the local PSAP or the native language of the PSAP or motorist.

“We applaud EENA’s leadership in bringing together a wide variety of organizations with a variety of expertise dedicated to one major purpose – enhancing public safety for all citizens across the European Union,” said ATX Vice President of Corporate Relations Gary Wallace.

Seventeen years after the creation of the European emergency number 1-1-2 by the European Union, the latest Eurobarometer survey reported that 78% of Europeans remain unaware of the 3 digits that can save their lives everywhere in the EU.

Diana Wallis, vice-president of the European Parliament and member of the newly formed EENA Advisory Board, admits that she did not know the European emergency number 112 before getting involved with EENA. “We need a large publicity campaign to make sure that all Europeans know this number,” she added.

“Together with all the members of EENA Advisory Board we will highlight and award citizens and emergency services who have contributed to a better 1-1-2 during the 1-1-2 Awards Ceremony on June 3,” said Wallis. “We want to highlight some great initiatives undertaken throughout the EU that will help to raise the awareness to those authorities which have not yet fully engaged in improving their 1-1-2 service. The participation of Commissioner Viviane Reding in this event also shows the positive will of the European Commission to promote good practices in this field,” she concluded.

Through a new committee organization operating under direction from the Advisory Board, EENA intends to promote the European emergency number 1-1-2 by launching a Europe-wide 1-1-2 Community Education project, create a network of 1-1-2 First Responders active in their countries via EENA 112 Chapters, contribute to official legislative documents related to 1-1-2, and improve recognition of and response to 1-1-2 calls through a 1-1-2 Excellence Centre project.

“Large support from the European Parliament to improve the 1-1-2 service has provided us with a great opportunity to gather all actors that that can contribute to its improvement,” said Olivier Paul-Morandini, president and founder of EENA. “Our whole emergency communications and response service today is facing great challenges. Caller-location is still not available to several emergency services, multilingual calls are not appropriately handled, and the number of false calls to 112 remains very high due to the lack of education campaigns. As a result, intervention times are much too high with regards to what can be expected in the EU”, he added.

Dr. Demetrios Pyrros, chairman of EENA Advisory Board, noted that “By working together I am convinced that we can better publicise the number 112, help the authorities with our expertise, and conduct some major pilot projects to ensure an excellent answer to 112 calls.”

Dieter Nuessler, president of FEU – the Federation of the European Union Fire Officer Associations – and Member of EENA Advisory Board, added, “One of the main objectives of EENA Advisory Board is to express the needs of emergency responders so that the Voice of 112 can be heard in Brussels.”

ABOUT EENA
EENA, the European Emergency Number Association, was set up in 1999 as a non-profit association registered in Belgium to serve as a neutral discussion platform for emergency services, industry and informed citizens with the aim of getting efficient, interoperable and harmonised emergency telecommunications in accordance with citizens' requirements. EENA has been advocating to authorities the issues related to the 112 as more and more EU citizens travel for business or leisure. EENA is also promoting the establishment of a general, pan-European, multilingual, accessible, simplified and efficient system for alerting citizens about imminent or developing emergencies.

Telematics Services from ATX Now Available to Peugeot Owners in Germany

ATXgroup — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:27:45 -0700

Expansion to second country in Europe for Peugeot Services Mobiles brand

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, May 27, 2008 --- Peugeot owners in Germany can now utilize ATX Telematics services following the recent launch of commercial service. The introduction marks the second country in Europe that ATX supports for Peugeot. Operating under the Peugeot Services Mobiles (PSM) brand, ATX introduced services commercially in France last year.

For Peugeot’s German customers, any vehicle equipped with an RT4 navigation system with color display can enroll for services. As in France, PSM is available on the 207, 307, 308, 407, 607, 807, 1007 and Expert model vehicles.

New customers who purchase their car receive an initial complimentary three months of service. After the trial period, the service costs €14,90 per month. After 12 consecutive months of paid service, the customer is eligible to receive a free update of French and German maps for the vehicle’s navigation system.

Most the same services provided to Peugeot owners in France will be available to vehicle owners in Germany, including routing services optimized with real-time traffic reports and alternative routes/deviation points, directions to various points of interest, the ability to download these points of interest into the vehicle’s navigation system, and the capability to access a personal phone and address directory from the car.

Speed trap alerts, available to French customers, will be available to German customers only when driving in France, this type of service being prohibited in Germany.

All Mobility Assistance services can be accessed by pressing an in-vehicle button or through a customized, Peugeot Services Mobiles Web site developed by ATX.

“Peugeot Services Mobiles gives Peugeot customers in Germany access to a comprehensive range of customised mobility assistance services designed to save them time, as well as continually updated routing information via ATX’s off-board servers,” said François Petit, Peugeot Services Marketing Senior Manager, PSA Peugeot Citroën. “The benefit to drivers is a safer and more relaxed drive, without the need to manually interface with their in-vehicle navigation system while driving.”

ATX Proposes .car Initiative to Facilitate Safe Web Browsing in Vehicles

ATXgroup — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:01:03 -0700

Telematics Provider Requests Connected Vehicle Trade Association to Organize Coalition to Promote Tools for In-Vehicle Web Design

DALLAS-FORT WORTH, May 19, 2008 - ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry, today announced an initiative with the Detroit-based Connected Vehicle Trade Association (CVTA) to convene an international work group to address how to safely access internet content through embedded and nomadic devices in vehicles.

ATX, as the convenor of the working group, and CVTA will launch an immediate effort to invite automobile manufacturers and interested parties in the automotive electronics value chain to participate in an open discussion and process for setting requirements for in-vehicle Web browsing. An industry forum on the proposal will follow when the industry meets in Detroit from Oct. 20-22, 2008.

ATX also is proposing a generic top-level domain - dot.car (.car), similar to dot.com (.com) - that would enable Web sites to be specifically designed to meet the challenging safety and consumer requirements for delivering Web content into the vehicle.

"The Web has become such a daily part of our lives, its pervasive use in the vehicle is inevitable and demands that the industry agree on specific formats that will adapt the traditional Web browsing experience to the driving experience," said ATX President and CEO Steve Millstein. "This proposal is similar to the adaptation that was required to develop and interface between the smart phone and the Web. Browsing the Internet in the vehicle is a unique environment with unique characteristics."

"ATX is a valued member of CVTA, and we fully support their thought leadership in convening this initiative," added Scott McCormick, president of the CVTA (www.connectedvehicle.org). ."Internet content is beginning to enter the vehicle environment, and we need to bring together all the stakeholders addressing safe means of obtaining, viewing and interacting with this content. This is a timely and important topic that we hope will draw global interest across a variety of affected industries."

In addition to Web content, it is envisioned that dot.car Web sites could also utilize such telematics-centric, real-time data as vehicle performance and maintenance diagnostics data, as well as vehicle location data. Also proposed is a telematics firewall process specifically designed to ensure the total protection of the vehicle from content that is delivered over the air to the in-vehicle browser for the entire life cycle of the automobile.

As envisioned, the initial users will be automobile manufacturers and their technology, and communications partners and suppliers. This group would need to define requirements in regards to the expected user experience. While the primary vision of the dot.car domain is to give motorists the ability to surf the World Wide Web and experience customized Web browsing, automobile manufacturers would benefit from the process by:

Ensuring flexibility to adapt the embedded user interface for the life of the vehicle;
Dramatically reducing lead time to market compared to the current embedded software design process;
Achieving the capability to customize according to vehicle model, country and motorist;
Facilitating easy customer access to content and updates;
Meeting customer expectations of web browsing while keeping a safe and convenient driving experience.

Anyone interested in participating in early discussions or receiving notice of the October forum is encouraged to send their contact information to CVTA at sjm@connectedvehicle.org.

ATX Forum at SAE to Focus on Shifts in Marketing for Generation Y

ATXgroup — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:52:51 -0700

Generation Y Wants Unbundled Telematics Option, Seeks Parents’ Influence In Vehicle Purchases

DETROIT, April 8, 2008 - How today’s teens and twenty-somethings (also known as Generation Y or the Millennial Generation) will change the way automobiles are made, marketed, serviced and equipped with electronics and telematics will be the focus of a two-hour business forum on April 15 sponsored by ATX Group, the world’s largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry. The presentation, part of the new Executive Business Theater forum to be introduced this year at the Society of Automotive Engineers’ (SAE) World Congress at Cobo Center, will be moderated by ATX president and CEO, Steve Millstein and feature presentations by Teen Research Unlimited, a Chicago-based research firm specializing in identifying trends in consumer attitudes of Millennials; Siemens PLM Software; ATX; and the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. The forum, part of a day-long theme on business innovation, is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Detroit Hall. Consulting4Drive GmbH, a German-based consulting firm, is co-sponsoring the theater with ATX.

“Unlike previous generational transitions, which primarily entailed identifying changing tastes in vehicle design and lifestyle, marketing to Generation Y will entail radical changes in vehicle ownership,” said Steve Millstein, ATX president and CEO. “This is the first generation that has been raised entirely with the Internet and technology. It’s a generation that expects things on-demand and doesn’t necessarily respond to traditional brand marketing. We’re hoping that this will be one of those free-wheeling, outside-the-box discussions that will stimulate discussions between automotive engineers and marketers about innovative new ways to approach the next wave of consumers.”

Leading off the program, Michael Wood, vice president and director of syndicated research for Teen Research Unlimited (TRU), will share some of the primary insights into Generation Y attitudes that TRU has identified in the ongoing Trendwatch panel it conducts for consumer products companies.

William A. Carelli, Siemens vice president of strategic marketing, and Dean Imre Molnar of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, will also share insights on marketing to this new generation of car buyers.

ATX is currently engaged with in-depth research on the Millennial market as it relates to the convergence of telecommunications devices, Internet content and the electrical buss of the vehicle. “The idea that this generation is going to respond to any shrink-wrapped solution that a vehicle manufacturer or telematics provider bundles up for them is simply flawed,” emphasized Millstein. “This is a generation that wants their vehicle and infotainment systems customized to fit individual demands, not packaged for them. They want their vehicle to accommodate the devices and content they prefer. They do not want to be told by a gatekeeper what they can or cannot access.”

Mio Technology and ATX Partner to Bring Real-Time Information to Modern Explorers

ATXgroup — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:44:57 -0700

FREMONT, California – April 1, 2008 – Mio Technology, a leading worldwide supplier of personal GPS navigation devices, announced a services and development agreement with ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics service provider to the automotive industry. Using ATX’s content delivery infrastructure, Mio Technology will create a pipeline of real-time content and services for its next generation of personal navigation devices, demonstrated as prototypes this week at CTIA in Las Vegas. By adding connected content and services to the navigation experience, users can search and navigate more effectively in an ever-changing landscape. Mio Technology’s ATX-powered connected devices will be available in the second half of 2008.

“Content is king in the future of PNDs – we believe the ability to deliver timely information about the user’s surroundings is a huge differentiator, creating a richer navigation experience,” said Kiyoshi Hamai, senior director of Sales and Marketing, Mio Technology Ltd. “By combining Mio Technology’s legacy of innovative portable devices with ATX’s information delivery capabilities, we’re laying the groundwork for a new era of modern exploration.”

Mio Technology’s prototype connected device, first unveiled in January at CES 2008, boasts a sleek form-factor with a look-and-feel that current Mio customers will find familiar. But when turned on, the device goes a step beyond simple navigation, presenting a line-up of personalized real-time information to enhance the user experience. Mio Technology announced intentions to deliver the following capabilities to market in 2008:

Weather information and forecasting for your current and future surroundings
Traffic updates that provide current information about conditions on the road
Local information to explore your surroundings, including up-to-date address and phone listings for local businesses, and more

“With a decade of actual market experience in serving nearly a million subscribers in both North America and Europe through in-vehicle telematics programs, ATX has gained tremendous insight into the types of content users want when navigating the roads and how to present that information in a clear, intuitive way,” said Shiva Kalisetty, vice president for Business Development, ATX Group. “Mobile Internet services extend the power and reach of personal navigation devices and makes points of interest even more interesting.”

Later this year, Mio Technology will announce pricing and availability as well as additional product capabilities and services. The connected device demonstration can be seen in the Tele Atlas booth (#1337) at the CTIA show, running from April 1-3 in Las Vegas.

About Mio Technology Corporation
Mio Technology develops and markets products that enable users to take advantage of the latest developments in mobile services. The company was established in May 2002 and now has operations in Taiwan, mainland China, Europe, North America, Australia, Japan and South Korea. Mio Technology has more than 1,200 employees worldwide and sells and markets its products in over 47 countries and territories. The company offers a wide array of mobile navigation products, which today includes car navigation systems, handheld navigation systems, GPS PDA phones and GPS PDAs, all designed to enable people to explore and discover the world around them. Mio Technology is among the world’s top three vendors of mobile devices with integrated GPS. The company is online at www.mio.com.

ATX Announces Open Platform for Connected Mobile Devices

ATXgroup — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:19:35 -0700

New Pinnacle^(SM) Platform Designed to Rapidly Deploy a Broad Service Menu for Users On The Go

DALLAS-FORT WORTH, Texas, APRIL 1, 2008 --- ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry, announced today the launch of Pinnacle^(SM), an open and comprehensive platform developed exclusively to support off-board, location-based services/advertising and social networking on portable personal navigation devices (PND) and handsets with wireless connectivity.

Mio Technology will unveil the first connected PND deployed using this platform in demonstrations this week at the CTIA WIRELESS 2008 trade show in Las Vegas.

Leveraging ATX's experience in developing up-to-date content/service delivery to in-vehicle telematics systems, the Pinnacle platform and its nimble, plug-and-play architecture will accelerate deployment of mobile services on connected mobile devices through a variety of user interfaces. The platform also can accommodate a broad array of business models (i.e., pay per use, subscription-based, advertising-based) and sophisticated customer relationship management tools designed to keep customer churn low and reduce subscriber acquisition costs. Pinnacle also is scalable to support millions of devices, using standard XML interfaces.

"With Pinnacle, device manufacturers will be able to quickly customize and accelerate the deployment of a broad spectrum of real-time, dynamic, mobile services that differentiate their products and enhance their customers' experience with a product that is integrated into their lifestyle rather than providing a simple function," said Shiva Kalisetty, ATX vice president of Business Development.

Personal navigation device and handset makers are rapidly deploying programs that rely on real-time information, interactive voice recognition and quick response services in order to better compete with emerging applications available through wireless phones, in-vehicle telematics programs and other after-market systems.

"It's no longer good enough to provide mobile consumers with simple directions to a specific point or the location of the nearest ATM," noted Kalisetty. "What is now emerging in the market are programs that are highly personalized and based on dynamic information."

ATX to Introduce Executive Business Theater to SAE World Congress

sean — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:50:53 -0700

International Telematics Provider Adds Business Discussion to Traditional Technical Presentations

DETROIT, March 27, 2008 - ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry, will team with the Society of Automotive Engineers to introduce the first annual three-day forum for in-depth discussions regarding automotive business issues during SAE's annual World Congress April 14-16 in Detroit. The new Executive Business Theater, complimenting SAE's current technical theaters, will kick off with day-long sessions on Globalization April 14, Innovation on April 15 and Financial Strategies on April 16. The sessions will be held in the Detroit Hall at Cobo Arena. Consulting4Drive GmbH, a German-based consulting firm, is also teaming with ATX and SAE on this new program.

David Hemming, President and CEO of the Pacific Rim Alliance, will kick off the forum as keynote to Monday's Globalization discussion. Howard Moskowitz, author of the book Selling Blue Elephants, will keynote Tuesday's Innovations session, and Timothy D. Leuliette, chairman & CEO, Leuliette Partners, will headline the Financial Strategy session on Wednesday.

"ATX and SAE believe strongly that technical advancements in the automotive industry must be balanced with the economic realities of today's rapidly changing business environment," said ATX President and CEO Steve Millstein. "It is not enough to simply offer a technical solution and then hope somehow the solutions fit within a business model. They should be concurrent processes. We are proud to partner with SAE to offer a program to examine business issues at one of the World's premier automotive industry events."

Over the course of the three days, panel discussions are also planned on the challenges of globalization, the need for innovation in marketing to the Millennial Generation, finding the balance between managing market-driven innovation and profit projections, the financial decision-making required when dealing with risky markets, emerging global trends, and the secrets to making money in the automotive business.

Millstein noted that the focus on business solutions is critical for a telematics provider such as ATX, which customizes telematics to address specific business needs in specific markets rather than promoting it as a shrink-wrapped, one-stop solution that can purportedly generate revenue by claiming to meet a wide variety of consumer, commercial and public policy needs.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For a full schedule of events taking place at the SAE Executive Business Theater, please visit www.sae.org/congress.

CeBIT Presentation to Explore Value of Extending Telematics Services from Vehicle to Portable Navigation Devices

sean — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:03:07 -0800

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, 5 March 2008 - The emerging connection of personal portable navigation devices to telematics services traditionally provided through embedded vehicle systems will be the focus of a presentation by ATX Vice President Shiva Kalisetty at "Navigation Day @ CeBIT 2008," the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions, being held in Hannover, Germany, on Friday, 7, March 2008. ATX is the world's largest independent telematics service provider to the automotive industry.

Kalisetty, who manages expansion of ATX's telematics services from embedded telematics units to other navigation and communications devices, will elaborate on the growing trend by device manufacturers to provide dynamically updated information to their customers and to differentiate their product through more personalized services. These services initially include many of the same location-based services already developed for ATX's embedded vehicle programs, such as roadside assistance, real-time traffic and weather information, fuel prices, event listings, and searches for local, location-based information.

"You will see more of the crossover from in-vehicle systems to mobile navigation devices, because traditional telematics providers offer experience in core business capabilities that are unfamiliar to device manufacturers, such as management of subscriber life-cycle and connectivity processes," Kalisetty predicted. "Partnering with a telematics provider also enables device makers to realize greater economies of scale and specialization, as well as more rapidly launch a program into the market."

Peugeot-Citroën Telematics Manager Joins ATX in Europe

eric — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:54:35 -0800

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, 5 February, 2008 – Arnaud de Meulemeester, who for the last three years has led the telematics program for PSA Peugeot Citroën, has been named Senior Director in Europe for ATX Group, the world’s largest independent telematics provider to the automotive industry.

De Meulemeester will be responsible for developing plans that integrate customized telematics solutions with the business plans of automobile manufacturers. This includes commercial eCall solutions. As the Senior Manager of telematics for five years at PSA and, before that, with Citroën, de Meulemeester deployed eCall service to over nine countries of Western Europe as well as defining premium traffic, fleet management and other location-based services for use in vehicles. He was instrumental in developing the launch of one of the first eCall services deployed in France and Germany.

"Arnaud’s experience in telematics and his extensive knowledge of the mobility needs of European drivers fits perfectly into our strategy for expanding the European telematics market through our global telematics platforms that many automobile manufacturers are now beginning to deploy," said ATX President and CEO Steve Millstein.

Prior to his focus on telematics, de Meulemeester was a product marketing manager for three years for Citroën and an information technologies manager for four years in PSA’s CAD/CAM Advanced Technologies Department.

De Meulemeester earned his engineering degree at the "Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne" and his post-graduate degree at ISIA, Ecole des Mines de Paris.

"This is an exciting period to be in telematics as we begin to see automobile manufacturers finalize their telematics strategies, and broad deployments emerge in North America, Europe and Asia," said de Meulemeester. "I decided to move to ATX because I wanted to play a critical role in how those services unfold throughout Europe, which is on the verge of becoming the largest market in the world in new vehicle sales."

Emerging Global Platform, Open Vehicle Interfaces and Converging Devices Continue Evolution, Bright Future for Telematics Industry

eric — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 07:20:41 -0800

ATX President-CEO Details Impact of "T3" Third Generation Telematics in State of the Telematics Industry Address

LAS VEGAS, January 7, 2008 - Telematics services are expanding into China, multiple telematics providers will serve the same vehicle with different applications, and vehicle owners are choosing telematics for the experience it brings to the daily drive–rather than solely as a precaution against potential emergencies. These are just a few of the dramatic changes emerging in the re-energized vehicle telematics industry as it enters 2008, according to Steve Millstein, president and CEO of ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry.

As the electronics industry convenes at the Consumer Electronic Show and the automotive industry assembles in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show, the industry that bridges those two worlds is back on the upswing. After several years of trepidation by automobile manufacturers to invest in an area with promising but unsubstantiated returns, an uncertain regulatory landscape and little consumer awareness of benefits, telematics is again growing–in terms of OEMs, vehicle owners, geographic regions, competitors, differing business models, and the types of devices connected to services.

"Telematics has finally become legitimatized in the marketplace," says Millstein in his annual State of the Telematics Industry address, available on the ATX Web site at www.atxg.com. ATX is the industry pioneer, having launched the first consumer vehicle telematics program in 1996 with Ford Motor Company and Motorola.

Now, the state of the telematics industry has never been better, Millstein said, with virtually every automobile manufacturer in North America beginning to deploy programs, including some planning programs that are global in scope. A number of new options for connecting to telematics, such as personal navigation devices, are developing. The result is the emergence of "T3" telematics “the industry's third generation“ which will become a radical departure from the traditional subscriber-based, event-driven response services.

Among the key industry trends Millstein foresees in 2008:

The emergence of a global telematics platform.
"The degree of interest throughout the automotive industry since our announcement last summer on entering the Chinese market has been absolutely remarkable. Companies are rushing to be among the first to bring telematics to China," Millstein said. "You will see telematics on cars in China within the next year. And that, in turn, is ratcheting up serious interest in similar deployments in the Indian and Latin American markets, thereby forcing automakers to formulate a global telematics strategy."

Millstein said that the global platform emerging will require flexibility in terms of applications but at this early stage it appears both vehicle theft recovery and automatic collision notification will be the initial, universal applications.

"The buildout of telematics in North America, coupled with the expansion throughout Asia, will force a serious a re-examination of the current situation in Europe, where telematics deployment has been stalled for more than a half decade," he said. "There's a new global paradigm. European governments and the automotive and telematics industries must band together to leverage this opportunity to accelerate deployment of the basic safety applications of first-generation telematics."

More flexible telematics systems that will open up the vehicle to receive a variety of best-of-class applications from various providers–rather than simply tied to a single solution.
ATX recently participated in the validation of BMW's new, flexible in-vehicle protocol platform that opens their vehicles to multiple sources of telematics applications. "We support this approach because this allows BMW the flexibility to tap the best-of-class specialties offered by the entire field of telematics service providers, while ensuring that legacy vehicles will always be able to access new services without having to replace any in-vehicle components," Millstein said. He also sees such flexibility critical in achieving cross-border connectivity as part of a global telematics platform.

More diverse channels for telematics to enter the vehicle.
Consumers' expectations will demand that their vehicles be able to connect seamlessly with the smart phones, digital music players and other devices they bring along for the ride, according to Millstein. "Your car's a node on the network. Telematics providers deliver the optimal connection for the multi-modal car. This ranges from determining least-cost-routing for the signal itself to helping all the devices in a vehicle to work together," he said. "In telematics' future, the application will determine which way is best. Drivers are interested in getting things done using familiar commands and interfaces."

Becoming the technical and information firewall to the vehicle.
As telematics increasingly becomes the gateway to the vehicle's network accessibility, Millstein asserts that telematics programs must become the firewall for the OEM's vehicle operating systems and the data protection manager for vehicle owners managing the content and interfaces allowed into their vehicle.

Telematics will continue to be data-centric.
The transition from T1 generation voice services to T2 data-centric services will continue as current programs advance to even more sophisticated use of remote diagnostic and crash data. "You will also see the emergence of data that is more customer-centric and designed to personalize the drive," Millstein said. "However, with this will come the increased potential for mobile spam, which could have an extremely adverse effect on the industry if it emerges."

Telematics that creates an always-on, personalized driving experience, used on a daily basis - rather than a one-size-fits-all, shrink-wrapped solution.
"Ford's and Microsoft's Sync system, which connects carried-in devices to in-car entertainment systems using Bluetooth wireless, is consistent with where we see the market going. It allows drivers to personalize their vehicles and integrates the vehicle - including the information that comes into it, as well as the interface - with the owner's lifestyle," Millstein said. "Telematics will give such systems like Sync much greater connectivity through multi-modal bandwidth to off-board applications.

"At this point, Sync is an entertainment unit positioned on the car's CANBUS network, but with strict firewall control between it and any other in-car system. When safety and security and both crash and vehicle data applications are added, we believe Ford will eventually transition to an extremely low-cost embedded telematics system. We think the data will be too valuable to ignore and that inevitably this will be what the market will require."

The emergence of social networking in telematics.
Telematics is beginning to enable drivers to communicate with other drivers indirectly as they drive with specific drive- and location-based information. "For example, it's possible that BMW's 7 Series customers, who are all part of the same network, will receive digitized data on deteriorating localized weather conditions based on real-time feedback from other 7 Series drivers. That data will merge seamlessly with other geo-coded streams so that the driver receives it on a need-to-know, just-in time basis."

Continuation of pushing applications off-board.
"Automakers will continue to look off-board for future functionality that telematics providers deliver. Using thin client content, the provider becomes much more ingrained in the daily drive than what can be provided through on-board systems," Millstein said.

As part of the transition to the new T3 generation of services, infrastructure and connectivity, Millstein emphasized that the telematics industry and the automakers it serves must understand that telematics must continue to be driver- and owner-focused. "It can't be structured around new technology, a new protocol, or a new revenue model; all have to be built around the needs and preferences of the individual driver and how they interface with his or her vehicle," Millstein said.

Telematics 2008: A Global Snapshot

eric — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 01:01:01 -0800

An ATX White Paper

January 2008

Steve Millstein
President and CEO

Table of Contents

THE MARKET LEGITIMACY OF TELEMATICS
T3 – TELEMATICS' THIRD GENERATION
THE CAR AS NETWORK NODE
DATA EXTRACTION
SOCIAL NETWORKING
TAKING CARE OF ORDINARY BUSINESS
DAILY USE EQUALS DAILY RELEVANCE
THIN CLIENT FUTURE
SYNC TO THE FUTURE?
OPEN SOURCE PROTOCOL
SHRINK-WRAPPED SOLUTIONS (THE "SHOPPING MALL" MODEL)
AN END TO FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGE
CONCLUSION

THE MARKET LEGITIMACY OF TELEMATICS
When the first navigators set off on lonely voyages to uncharted waters, they were called "explorers." Some came back with great wealth, or grand discoveries. Some failed. Some didn't come back at all.

It's possible that some people in the age of exploration felt that opportunities had ended when the last big discoveries were made. After all, how many times can China be discovered? How many Americas are out there over the horizon? Observers would have been quite correct in noting that there was less and less room for original exploration.

The market in horizons diminished rapidly as the world became better-known. Analysts could have said "the rewards of sea travel are limited; we don't see much of a future in voyages."

Later, when ocean liners sailed the same sea routes, the people on board were called "tourists." The ocean was the same as it had been when "explorers" sailed it, but the nature of the trip had changed. The travel routes were known and the dangers were marked; and because of that tens, then hundreds of thousands of people were willing to risk sea travel.

They did so because ocean travel turned out to be less about getting across an ocean to an unknown goal, and more about what you did with the trip.

Likewise, Telematics had its early phase in which the prize was supposed to go to the "early adopters" who discovered and monopolized a new discovery. Once those fast movers were done, observers held that Telematics didn't seem to hold many future rewards. The technology bubble burst, some ventures ended, others didn't pan out, and the market in Telematics horizons diminished rapidly.

The age of Telematics explorers is over. The nature of the trip has changed.

Now it's time for some postcards from the emerging world of Telematics where the prize isn't limited and reserved for the first-to-market, but instead growing and shared among the best in class.

If I were a Telematics tourist, here are the cards I would write back to the home folks.

North America: Having a good time, wish you were here!
Europe: Not much has changed over the years --- but there's excitement in the air, we hope to reach every country!
Asia: We're here, not sure where we're planning to go, so much to learn!
All postcards end with exclamation points because every trip is exciting, and it's the same with Telematics today. Every car company, because of the competitive nature of the industry, is making their plans at this point in time. I believe the Telematics industry has gone from an early exploratory phase, in which automakers could think about whether they would or would not "offer" telematics, into a new legitimacy in which some form of Telematics is simply going to be in cars. It's becoming as central to the driving experience as those once-upon-a-time luxury options power steering and power brakes. When was the last time car buyers faced a choice between manual and power steering?

Similarly, there will soon come a time when car buyers wonder why Telematics would ever have been an option. Our estimates are that 40 to 50 percent of new cars sold in North America will be Telematics-equipped off the line in 2011. It is continuing to grow and we think it will be standard over time.

So the newest trend is what I would call "market legitimacy." I believe the industry in the past years has become legitimate, and with legitimacy comes competitiveness. More service providers and technologies are coming into the market and that's creating new business models, new infrastructures, and new protocols. We call this new era "T3" --- telematics' third generation --- and it promises to be a radical departure from the past.

T3 – TELEMATICS' THIRD GENERATION
Telematics for over a decade has been defined by a single business model pioneered by ATX and our industry colleagues at General Motors who provide the OnStar service. Both have developed a steady market that has created consumer value, benefits to public safety and a dependable revenue stream for shareholders. ATX has had a steady market of about 850,000 subscribers, closing in on the 1 million mark at the end of 2007. With the raw growth of the existing business model, we anticipate that over the next few years we will reach 2.5 million subscribers just based on overall Telematics offerings within the automotive industry, and there are other factors that could launch even more significant growth for us. But future growth, exciting as it is, is not the heart of the telematics story as the industry embarks on its 12th year.

ATX has been a Telematics leader since the earliest days of the industry. That's not PR-speak. It's fact. We have been unique as a profitable third-party provider of OEM-offered Telematics services longer than any competitor. We've taken heat over the years for seeming isolated or for pursuing a course different from that of self-proclaimed industry thought leaders. Our view has always been that our own brand name is less important than the brands of the OEMs we serve, that OEMs must never surrender their "real estate" and, thus, their customer inside their cars. Telematics is always about the customer experience and reinforcing their purchasing decision. Even with all of the changes that T3 technologies and applications will bring, we remain steadfastly convinced of these principles.

So, what do we see ahead in the telematics waters beginning in 2008?

The gradual demise of subscription-based, event-driven telematics, relegated primarily to luxury class and near-luxury class vehicles.
The emergence of a global telematics platform.
More flexible telematics systems that will open up the vehicle to receive a variety of best-of-class applications from various providers rather than simply tied to just one. Telematics may no longer be linked to a single "box" in the vehicle, but could be channeled to and from the vehicle through other devices.
Telematics services become less about responding to an event (e.g., a crash, a stolen vehicle, a disabled vehicle, a lost driver) and more about an always-on experience wherever you are mobile. It will be less about technology and more about personalization of services and strict protection of vehicle owners' personal information and preferences, delivering to them a unique ownership experience compatible with the OEMs brand values.
Within all of those predictions, our experience tells us that successful Telematics providers will need at the very least to offer a global footprint, with true involvement in the regions served, and that providers will do well to give maximum flexibility to implementation. Our experience convinces us that automotive companies do best with Telematics when a provider offers them a solution that allows selection of the hardware they want, the wireless protocol they need and the freedom to offer a variety of content.

We think there are some recent entrants to the Telematics market with very different business models with unproven cases so far. It will be interesting to observe the various inflection points they reach on service provision, government accommodation, branding and, most important, profitability. In the automotive product class – which has a ten-year, 100,000-mile-plus lifecycle – lack of sustainability is the cardinal sin.

For example, just to create a USB port designed to automotive standards, for example, took a major working group several years. And that was simply to duplicate in car-mode what already existed on consumer electronics. There's no value-added aspect to the in-car USB port for the eventual consumer, who does not care about the automotive duty cycle. The consumer just wants the port to work and doesn't think about having it last 10,000 cycles, or whether it can be used with a gloved hand, or the fact that it has to work at minus-40 Fahrenheit. The customer will absolutely care if the USB port fails to work at any point during their car's lifespan. Who will they blame if it stops functioning? The car manufacturer, not the electronics supplier. And that's just for one simple piece of hardware. Picture the car owner if the heart and soul of their car's Telematics communication system dies.

We don't have to work very hard to understand that customer's feelings, because we've seen it demonstrated in the past year. As you know, the earliest Telematics systems in North America came out using the cellular technology of the day, the analog signal. In 2007, phone service providers made the long-planned switch to digital signals and older phones were no longer provisioned.

One of the brands we have served, Mercedes-Benz, was an early entrant into Telematics. Mercedes later decided not to move forward with more-advanced Telematics service for a few years and, through 2006, remained an analog-based system.

When we went to our Mercedes-Benz customers last year to start shutting down the analog service, we were amazed. They didn't want to disconnect. When we started reaching these analog customers, we gave them three options: shut the service down now, go to the dealership for a retrofit to digital service, or continue the existing analog service on a prorated base for whatever time was left during which that service would continue to connect. Incidentally, our renewal rates for those customers had been in the mid-70-percent range year over year. We had forecast that our renewal rates would decline by at least 10 percent due to the analog changeover. That didn't happen at all. They took whatever fraction of a year we could give them.

So there's something going on there, something consumers are happy with. Our industry, and the automakers we serve, must understand that as we go forward. We can't promise a relationship and then back out on the consumer. Legitimacy as a Telematics industry must carry sustainability as a part of driving.

Meanwhile, other events are moving the Telematics market in new directions. I can't tell you enough about the degree of interest we at ATX are getting based on our announcement of entering the Chinese market. Companies are rushing, and I mean literally rushing, to be among the first to bring Telematics to China. You will see Telematics on cars in China within the next year. The plans aren't stopping there. We're seeing something new emerge because of this focus on China as well as other Asian and Pacific Rim markets. We're seeing car companies starting to develop global – truly global – Telematics approaches. Everybody's planning it, and they're not just planning it for one market, they're looking globally.

I'm not suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach. I'm not suggesting all the telematics products will be identical. We are working on a joint study right now for the Chinese market, and we're going to be doing a similar study for the Indian market, examining cultural needs, willingness to pay for certain services, priorities and the like. Theft recovery and automatic collision notification both appear to be becoming ubiquitous around the world, for example. But for automakers with a global strategy there can be one piece of equipment on the car, and wherever it goes we can provision it, customizing our services on the server side.

The Telematics markets still remain fairly divided into thirds: North America still prizes safety and security above other applications; Europe focuses on navigation and traffic systems and the Asian market is more attuned to infotainment and personalization. As the global market expands, though, we see a potential blending of these demands. With the expansion of the EU, for example, we're beginning to see some of the safety and security advances becoming uppermost in the minds of Europeans. A convergence is just beginning. Delivery mechanisms for the services will, of course, differ, but desire for the full suite of Telematics services is growing.

Now I'd like to take some time to discuss a few specific drivers for the market trends I've indicated. I'm going to mention some specific competitor names and products as part of this, so don't be shocked; at ATX, we've been in this market long enough that we're secure in our own business and we don't have to pretend that there aren't competitors out there, many of them with good ideas.

THE CAR AS NETWORK NODE
We said two or three years ago in Hanover that the car companies need to begin focusing on "connection" and not on "content." Automotive lead times are such that it's difficult to stay competitive with the consumer electronic marketplace; consumers need to be able to bring devices, protocols and ways of connecting into the car and have the car simply work seamlessly with consumer expectations.

We don't see portable devices as competitive with the Telematics business model at all. We'll connect to consumers through those devices. And we see those integrating, in the eyes of the driver, into the vehicle. Your car's a node on the network. It's going to become a multi-modal device.

Telematics providers have the ability to provide optimal connection for the multi-modal car. This ranges from determining least-cost-routing for the signal itself, to helping all the devices in a vehicle to work together on something other than operating system disagreements. In the Telematics future, the application will determine which way is best. Because devices are interacting, consumers will want the ones they use the most to dictate how the other devices will operate. The driver isn't interested in having a "Telematics" experience, per se – they are interested in getting things done using familiar commands and interfaces.

Customers are also interested in subscription efficiency. During a recent visit to Korea, I signed up for Internet access on my laptop in my hotel. But as I told the hotel desk, I've also got a smartphone, and I want Internet access on that as well, if I'm jogging or whatever. The answer was that I had to buy another subscription. Why? I'm not using any more minutes; I can't get twice as much Internet just by having two devices connecting to the same node. It's not the time that's valuable, in other words – it's the accessibility. Telematics offers the network node accessibility that will help a car logically manage its driver's connections.

DATA EXTRACTION
While I've focused a lot on consumer desires for Telematics, pulling information from the vehicle to inform Vehicle Relationship Management programs and to bring data to the car companies in order to reduce defects and improve warranty costs is clearly a major role for our maturing industry.

BMW, for example, has built four years of its Assist and teleservices built into the manufacturer's suggested retail price of each car. We see that trend continuing among other car companies. Why? Because the data download from hundreds of thousands of vehicles, aggregated, reveals trends and indicators that are vastly valuable to an automotive company while being minimally useful to any particular driver. Which individual is concerned about a transient catalyst error that may occur only at speeds of 103 kph during left turns? Few drivers could gain any benefit from such information, but this theoretical example might have major implications for total vehicle lifecycle costs for an automaker. Something is happening there, an "event of interest," as technologists might say, that could reveal a correctible flaw in overall engine management.

Such transient events were unprofitable to consider in the past; now, they can be correlated across a vehicle fleet. And, by the way, BMW doesn't have catalyst errors. But manufacturers overall saw far fewer warranty problems last year. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed that total safety-related recalls in 2007 fell to 123 recalls, affecting 12.3 million vehicles, the lowest number of recalls in four years. In 2004, for example, there were 231 auto recalls affecting 30 million vehicles. A majority of the 2007 recalls involved cars less than two years old; automakers are crediting early feedback allowing them to catch problems in production.

While automakers identified "dealers" as the source of much of the information, Telematics, to my way of thinking, simply must be playing at least a small role in this. VRM programs and the ubiquitous rollout of OnStar across General Motors vehicle fleet at the very least have increased the raw amount of vehicle data being piped to both automakers and dealers.

At ATX, we see this same data flow as easily mined so that drivers also begin to receive a direct benefit from it in various ways. You're retrieving data already; why not re-skin it and let the drivers use it? These applications range from sets of parental controls (see on a real-time basis just how fast the family car is going and whether seat belts are actually being worn) to other applets that allow you to interact with your car. We are building such a set of data interactions for a major OEM which will have them on the market by calendar year 2011.

Clearly, data flow from the car to the automaker is a major part of any future Telematics business, and so is data access management, data security and data protection. We must use caution with how far we go with the use of the information; Telematics must remain a trusted source in terms of OEM-consumer connections.

SOCIAL NETWORKING
We've all heard about various social networking successes and the over-the-top stories when providers or others make chilling use of data. Facebook page removals may begin to rival tattoo removal as the current generation of college students suddenly finds itself out in the "real world" where some photographs and attitudes can impact job searches!

There's a different sort of social networking that Telematics will provide: enhanced, geo-coded data. That's a fancy way of saying drivers communicating with other drivers indirectly. For example, it's possible that BMW's 7 Series customers who are all part of the same network will receive digitized data on where the worst potholes are, based on feedback from other 7 Series drivers. That data will merge seamlessly with other geo-coded streams so that the driver receives it on a need-to-know, just-in-time basis.

Mini drivers may post what sorts of restaurants they favor, allowing an interest-group community to find a nice place to have breakfast where it's pretty certain other enthusiasts will show up. But social networking Telematics communities don't have to be like-minded individuals; they may come from a group of people from a totally different set of demographics who share a need for particular drive- and location-based information. The key is that the information will be germane, pointed and not anonymous. We're seeing social networking as an emerging Telematics application.

TAKING CARE OF ORDINARY BUSINESS
No matter how technology advances, it's the simple and ordinary things people still have trouble with. Talk to a roadside service provider, and they'll tell you that the four of the most common things they have to dispatch for are already monitored in the car, often with great big displays.

People still run out of gas, tires go flat, batteries die and keys get locked inside the vehicle even when chimes are ringing and lights are flashing as a warning. The difficulty is that monitored systems are not fully interactive. If Telematics is about anything, it's about the experience of bringing a vehicle to life for the driver. When you bring that cell phone into the car that has navigation capabilities, we want to maximize the value of that to you. Connect it to the vehicle, integrate it into the displays in the car, and download an applet to let you start interacting with the car seamlessly – without paying for another subscription.

Telematics is going from an event in the vehicle to a lifestyle, and it will do so by taking care of ordinary business. While it's wonderful to hear phone calls between a driver who has locked her baby in the car and the operator who remotely unlocks the car doors, we're at a technology point now where we need to ask, "Why does it take an operator? Why can't I call my own car and tell it to do what I need it to do?"

DAILY USE EQUALS DAILY RELEVANCE
In North America, consumers have changed focus. We don't wait for the Encyclopedia Britannica to come out to be the authoritative source. In fact, consumers aren't waiting for authoritative sources for decisions that don't require authority. Most of us have become accustomed to going to the Web and "triangulating" with a number of sources that get us pretty close to an answer. The answer doesn't usually need to be 100 percent accurate; just close enough to solve our immediate need or particular problem. Humorist Stephen Colbert may joke about "Wikiality," the idea that false information can be made real simply by entering enough things in the online Wikipedia database, but most individuals don't have a lot of reason to fib about things like the locations of gasoline filling stations.

So if I'm a driver and I want to know where the best place locally to get gasoline might be, why must I rely on an expensive and "authoritative" database of "points of interest" that may be two years out of date on my onboard navigation system? Why should the in-car provider be involved in the information at all, in fact? There's only one way for drivers to receive the most relevant information, and that is to let them do it themselves.

I believe in the long run our job as Telematics providers will be to let you search from the vehicle, free or at no additional charge, and to receive the route and the information you need in a general sense to achieve your goals. Without that kind of search function, Telematics will remain event-driven; my airbags went off, or I touched a button for concierge service, or I made a call to admit that I was lost. With search functions, Telematics becomes a matter of daily use. With daily use comes daily relevance and an improved value stream for the Telematics provider and the automaker.

THIN CLIENT FUTURE
As long as vehicles must carry an individual database with them, in a hardened form that can withstand automotive conditions in the field, an awful lot of work will need to continue to go into non-value-added services. In addition, relatively fragile equipment will continue to ride in a harsh world.

I recently drove with a friend whose late-model luxury vehicle held a beautifully integrated navigation system in the instrument panel. But there, on his dashboard, was a standalone portable unit. I asked, "Why do you have that?" and my friend responded "Have you played with one? Try it!"

Sure enough, the portable unit was much more fun – and much easier to use – than the in-car system. It's exactly the same circumstance that happened when car phones became portable cell phones; all the effort of trim, fit, durability and surface texture made by OEMs to permanently install mobile phones in cars couldn't compete with the improved functionality of carried-in devices, especially when those devices rapidly became cameras, MP3 players and text-message devices.

Automakers are going to need to look off-board for future functionality, and Telematics providers are the ones who will bring it to them. Thin client servers, more than in-vehicle hard drives or dealer-installed navigation DVDs, will increasingly become the source of product improvements and updates in the years ahead. Thin client will allow an OEM to put a 2008 service menu into a 2005 model-year car.

The industry has an example of just that kind of change right in front of their noses in the merger attempts of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. The concept of satellite radio was good – personalized, high-quality music in the vehicle – but it took them too long to get there. In the meantime, the iPod happened. People said "You know what? Let me take this nice 16-speaker system in my car, but you know what else? Forget about the radio; I know what music I want."

You have to make the car fit into the lifestyle of your consumers. You're not going to drive them to buy your cellphone or drive them to buy your navigation unit any more. Using thin client content, though, the provider becomes much more ingrained in the daily drive. It's a much more intimate relationship, enabled through Telematics.

SYNC TO THE FUTURE?
People have asked us at ATX whether Ford's introduction of its SYNC system, which connects carried-in devices to in-car entertainment systems using Bluetooth wireless, doesn't spell the end for traditional Telematics service providers.

Actually, I think it's consistent with our philosophy going forward that something like SYNC would show up in a mass-market vehicle. Ford seems to us to be starting at the periphery of the Telematics future for the car, and may ultimately end up at the point we've been talking about.

With SYNC, Microsoft provides the content, its connectivity is limited and there's very little in that system for a Telematics provider to tap to add value. Drivers will of course like SYNC because it allows them to personalize their vehicle beyond adding floor mats or hanging fuzzy dice from the mirror.

But where Ford is going with SYNC is toward integrating a lifestyle, and when there are servers involved, at the point in time when it's a multi-modal product, then Telematics will have a role. Microsoft essentially wants to put software in every Ford vehicle, which is great for Microsoft. If that software comes and talks to a TSP, and we give that multi-modal bandwidth, then in terms of the back office applications and integration into the vehicle, those are the things that Telematics providers can offer far better than can Ford or Microsoft.

There are other issues at play with something like SYNC as well. At this point, it is an entertainment unit positioned on the car's CANBUS network, but with strict firewall control between it and any other in-car system. Once safety and security are involved, we believe an embedded Telematics system ultimately will be required. The value proposition of having infotainment on a non-embedded device, but other delivery systems on an embedded one, is not clear so far.

We're certainly glad that Ford has seen customers want to interact with their vehicle and personalize their experience. We think that such systems mark a gateway for more Telematics business in the future, rather than challenging that future in any way.

OPEN SOURCE PROTOCOL
The recent announcement by BMW that it will implement an open source protocol for Telematics service delivery to its vehicles is an interesting development in the telematics arena. BMW's Next Generation Telematics Protocol (NGTP), was developed in collaboration with two Telematics-interested companies. Its aim is admirable; the NGTP effort is meant to create a flexible protocol platform open to all telematics providers and vehicle manufacturers, within which changing industry needs can be rapidly met by software changes rather than by switching out custom programming or unique hardware.

I want to say that the philosophy and theory behind this effort is spot-on. It represents the undoubted future for serious Telematics offerings. Technology neutral interfaces and open-source coding are, indeed, the direction we should be taking. ATX's technical and product service architecture can support any open interface. The NGTP effort may have two challenges, though, which concern us for the Telematics future.

One is the introduction of an entirely new layer within the communications spectrum, that of the "dispatcher" which connects Telematics units in the field, with the Telematics Service Provider at the head end. It is unclear what service area, and what sorts of mandated connections, this additional layer in the communications chain will occupy and require.

The second challenge is that global automakers may not be eager to conform to an open-source standard brought by a stand-alone, European luxury automobile manufacturer. BMW has made significant strides in the automotive mobile electronics field, it is true, but their experience has not been germane to other automakers, specifically the Japanese luxury marquees or the North American "Detroit 3" OEMs.

If the open source protocol being offered at this time indeed carries benefits that other automakers see as significant, it is possible that the NGTP initiative will have long-lasting effects in the Telematics market. If this is a system being imposed by a single automaker operating with a two-party consortium, it may find itself occupying the same position as some of the more advanced in-car data bus protocols adopted by European automakers, but largely ignored by the rest of the global automotive world.

We at ATX applaud BMW's initiative in this area. It is exactly the right model for a Telematics future. If the NGTP offering limits Telematics development in any way, we foresee the standard being bypassed by clever use of carried-in devices that might provide a Telematics-like environment without adding layers of management to the Telematics signal.

In many ways, Telematics is like electricity. Service provision will always follow the shortest, most-efficient pathway to reach the consumer. There is no question that the traditional, call-center based model will change over time because it is not necessarily the shortest pathway in many cases. Introducing yet another intermediary into Telematics is clearly not in the interest of Telematics users or providers. Open-source protocols may offer advantages and we look forward to their proper implementation.

SHRINK-WRAPPED SOLUTIONS (THE "SHOPPING MALL" MODEL)
We have been intrigued to watch the emergence of a Telematics model in which an intermediary is allowed to "lease real estate" within the car in order to provide Telematics service, and, in return, the car maker is promised a piece of the revenue from the transaction.

This appears to be the model being followed by new-entrant companies such as Hughes Telematics, and we are interested to see a potential provider isolate a market niche and function within that niche. After significant analysis, however, we believe the application is limited. It might be a reasonable initial strategy to enter the market, but over the long term, it may fail.

This is because it does not dovetail with the interest of the automotive company. Very few automakers will allow unbridled access to their customers. Under the shrink-wrapped model, the Telematics provider must "own" the customer, rather than the automaker. While many things are possible between provider and automaker, the strategy very much abdicates the automotive strategy to the would-be Telematics provider.

The model indeed allows an automaker to quickly equip its fleet with black boxes capable of Telematics delivery, but the model has been attempted several times at the earliest onset of Telematics and each time has been found to be defective. It does not allow for the maturation and growth of the automaker's initial strategy beyond the point at which hardware equipping of its production vehicles gives an economic benefit.

Even automakers such as Hyundai are now looking at global strategies, and in being a global provider, Telematics becomes a strategic issue rather than a tactical one. As an automaker, you don't want to "rent" space to anyone willing to put up a shop. Instead, you want to have functionality that will benefit both you as an automaker, and bring a high value-added feature to your consumer.

While we don't quibble that the shrink-wrap model has a short-term place, or that it is a good entry strategy for a manufacturer who desires quick entry into the Telematics market, there will be quick maturation within the automaker market for such systems. When automakers find that the advantage of buying a turnkey system is outweighed by the potential limits of such a system, the Hughes model is likely to change.

Again, from our experience in observing the Telematics field, we believe that the shrink-wrap model can indeed pick off some of the low-hanging fruit. Its difficulty is that, once that early advantage is done, there may be no continuing advantage to an automotive brand. We don't see a trend towards shrink wrapped, in fact it is a model that OnStar offered to OEMs years ago. Those who chose it then have abandoned it and BMW, with NGTP, is clearly moving in a different direction.

AN END TO FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGE
At the beginning of the Telematics era, the vision was extremely limited. Industry observers believed that those who moved first, and fastest, would dominate the industry for all time. Once the turf was carved up, in other words, the pie would be limited and those who grabbed the biggest or best parts would "own" them for eternity. That vision was short-sighted, as the T3 generation is proving today. Yes, early movers gained key market share, but some of the earliest movers became bogged-down with a primitive vision of what Telematics would eventually become.

As an example, the most-successful Telematics companies, ourselves included, based much of their business model off of a call-center approach. That was fine for the first decade of Telematics offerings; today, it's not so certain that a Telematics provider would want to go to the expense of building a call-center. Instead, such a competitor would invest in technology that limited or bypassed the need for such a center.

That's not to say that ATX and other providers intend to do away with call-center Telematics. The industry has been built on service standards and expectations created largely from the call-center experience. But future adaptations in Telematics will need to be scalable, international and fast-moving.

The old credo of first-mover advantage is like the metaphor of the explorers threading their way across the ocean to distant lands. It's an outdated model for today's world of Telematics.

Best business models will certainly overcome those who believe that first, or fastest, somehow offer strategic competitive advantages.

CONCLUSION
We're on a new voyage in the Telematics space, one that is going to reveal detailed cultures and unexpected complexity in the service delivery model. The old model of "explorer" companies is done. The new model of service provision is emerging with this new generation of Telematics seriousness.

Rapid growth and expansion in North America, opportunities and the creation of a Telematics culture in Europe, and exciting exploration of new Telematics needs and uses in China and Asia all mark the growth pattern for the T3 generation.

Rumors of the "death" of Telematics some years ago have obviously been inaccurate. In the same way, observers eagerly watching for one Telematics company to fail as others take over its business are failing to see the big picture. The Telematics field is

widening and deepening so much that multiple models are at work now. Some will have short-term success. Some will set long-term trends. Others are, at best, a guess – a departure point for a new attempt to exploit a complex market.

At ATX, we believe our business model is sound and strong. We will be growing our subscribers at a top-line rate of over 30 percent compounded annual growth rate over the next five years.

We have had the advantage of working with many great customers through the first generations of Telematics provision, and now we see that not only is the industry growing, but that larger customers may be coming forward eager for service provision in important new ways.

We, like the other traditional Telematics competitors, do indeed face competition from new entrants to the field. As in any maturing business, new methods and new niche strategies must be tried in order to find growth patterns.

But there is plenty of runway for existing Telematics still, and experienced providers such as ATX are far from sitting still to wait for their relevance to fade. We see an expanding world, and an expanding definition of what Telematics is meant to accomplish, as validation of the early explorations.

Now it's time for us all to work with our automaker friends to help deliver the absolute best experiences possible for the millions and millions of consumers who are just now discovering the possibilities inherent in Telematics. They are now clamoring to cross those oceans of technology, to explore the culture and excitement of the Telematics world. The opportunity to serve them is simply huge.

ATX Studies Potential Role For Telematics in Natural Emergencies

eric — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:10:53 -0800

Social Network of Telematics Drivers to Share Real-Time, Location-Based Experiences with Others

DALLAS-FORT WORTH, December 19, 2007 - ATX Group, the world's largest independent telematics services provider to the automotive industry, recently launched a plan to determine whether a virtual, social network of telematics-enabled drivers may be able to play a more beneficial role in helping emergency response planners assess in real-time the scope of a natural emergency.

Based on the number of unsolicited, location-specific calls ATX received from its telematics subscribers during the recent breakout of wildfires in southern California, ATX wants to explore with state emergency services officials the value of eyewitness information, not involving injuries, from telematics-enabled drivers whose location is automatically transmitted with their call. The project would be aligned with ATX's T3 (third generation) telematics program that uses its base of telematics subscribers as a social "traveler's aid" network to share real-time, location-enabled travel information and recommendations among themselves.

"What we experienced particularly with the California wildfires were instances when subscribers notified us as Good Samaritans about roadways that had suddenly been closed by firefighters, dense smoke reducing visibility on highways, and whether anyone knew that flames had reached a specific roadway or location," said Gary Wallace, ATX vice president of corporate relations. "We also notice when natural disasters occur that 9-1-1 centers and emergency dispatchers are generally overwhelmed with calls, some involving potentially life-threatening situations. We want to explore with state officials whether we need to be encouraging our customers to essentially be probes in the field, or roving reporters, for emergency responders during a natural emergency and, if so, what's the best way to quickly relay this cumulative information to emergency planners, emergency responders or highway departments without adding a burden to 9-1-1 call centers handling life and death calls."

Wallace said the California wildfires were only the most recent example of Good Samaritan telematics drivers providing real-time, location-specific information about fast-changing circumstances during a natural event. Other instances have included drivers reporting blowing snow, black ice, slippery bridges, dense fog, hail, downed power lines or trees, high water over roadways, potential funnel clouds and motorists stuck in a snow bank. During hurricane evacuations, drivers have used their ATX telematics-equipped vehicles to report incidences of stalled or disabled cars, drivers stranded along the roadway, and no gasoline availability or hotel vacancies in an area. On a more frequent basis, telematics motorists are able to provide an exact location along a roadway of dead or injured wildlife or farm animals, stray or injured pets, and large obstructions in the roadway such as furniture, potholes, tire debris or materials spilled from trucks.

"Because this is information given to us in real-time with accurate location by a specific network of drivers, we're obviously looking at this as an opportunity in which, let's say, our BMW drivers assist other BMW drivers with timely travel information and recommendations," Wallace added. "This, in essence, represents the beginning of the telematics-based social networking that we've predicted will become part of T3, or third-generation telematics."

Introduced last year in an address by ATX President and CEO Steve Millstein at the Fully Networked Car event at the Geneva auto show, T3 applications and technology are designed to make telematics a daily part of life and transitioning the telematics market from relying solely on event-driven incidences such as airbag deployments.

"We are very interested in learning whether the virtual, social network we're creating among our own customers produces information that will be of value to those who help shape a broad response to natural emergencies," added Wallace.

ATX unveils mobility assistance service with Peugeot

eric — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:18:53 -0700

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, 10 September, 2007 — ATX Group, the world’s largest independent telematics provider to the automotive industry in North America and Europe, today announced the launch of a unique, in-vehicle information service throughout France designed to assist drivers at the mere press of a button.

Developed collaboratively with PSA Peugeot Citroën, the Peugeot Services Mobiles mobility assistance program offers a variety of operator-assisted services to subscribing French owners of Peugeot 1007, 207, 307,308, 407, coupé 407, 607, 807 and Expert models whose vehicles are equipped with Peugeot’s RT3 / RT4 system. These services, provided from off-board the vehicle through ATX’s response center in Düsseldorf, include:

The ability to search and download areas of interest from a database containing information from the Michelin® Guide and Michelin® Green Guides, among other resources.
Receipt of in-vehicle, automatically generated traffic alerts on predefined routes and downloads to the navigation screen of updated itineraries that integrate current traffic conditions.
In-vehicle management of a personal address book.
Identification of the location of automatic radar, speed-measuring devices throughout France.

All of the Mobility Assistance services can be accessed by pressing an in-vehicle button or through a customized, Peugeot Services Mobiles website, also developed by ATX.

One of the most unique features of the program is the ability of ATX’s off-board routing engine to generate a route that automatically diverts the traveler away from major traffic chokepoints and incidents.

ATX, SK Telecom agree to deliver telematics services to China

eric — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:27:49 -0700

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, August 13, 2007 — ATX Group, the world’s largest independent telematics provider to the automotive industry, and SK Telecom, one of the leading and most innovative wireless carriers in Asia, announced today the creation of a strategic, cooperative agreement to deliver telematics services to the Chinese market.

The companies intend to have services in place by 2008.

The strategic alliance combines SK’s experience in developing innovative 3G wireless applications in the Chinese market with ATX’s experience in customizing data and voice services for different types of in-vehicle and off-board devices, automobile brands, and vehicle owners.

Sung Cheol Hong, SK Vice President China Business Group, said the agreement enables two leaders in their respective industries to forge a more compelling business model to meet the growing need in China for advanced telecommunications and in-vehicle applications. The collaboration also helps address the demand by global automobile and communication device manufacturers to implement global telematics platforms, thereby extending telematics services as a standard feature in every vehicle and on every wireless device, added ATX Group President and CEO Steve Millstein.

ATX helped pioneer telematics in consumer vehicles back in 1996, currently serves automobile manufacturers in both North America and Europe.