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Telco’s R&D head Luke Ibbetson to join industry group’s board.
Vodafone on Friday became the first telco to join the recently-formed 5G Automotive Association (5GAA).
The industry group was established in late September by German car makers Audi, BMW and Daimler, as well as telco vendors Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia, and chip makers Intel and Qualcomm.
Its mission is to develop, test and promote communications solutions that will enable a range of connected vehicle services, including driverless cars.
"Vodafone’s industry leadership and cellular network operator’s perspective is an important addition to the 5GAA, and it will significantly contribute to the successful development of the connected mobility ecosystem," said Dino Flore, director general of the 5GAA, in a statement.
Vodafone has joined the 5GAA as a platinum member, and Luke Ibbetson, the telco’s head of research and development and technology strategy, will join the board.
"The communication between vehicles infrastructure and pedestrians using C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) will be fundamental to the creation of intelligent transport systems (ITSs)," Ibbetson said. "The technology that the 5GAA develops can lead to major improvements in driving and road safety."
Vodafone is already busy working on connected car technology.
At the beginning of October, the company revealed it has been testing out LTE-V2X on a private track in the U.K., and it plans further trials in Germany.
