KDDI, a company that provides IoT services and connected experiences to its OEM partners, has a longstanding partnership with the BMW Group. KDDI also has a lengthy relationship with Verizon, which in turn offers 5G and LTE connectivity. That is why Verizon has now made its partnership with BMW Group and KDDI official.
The newly formed partnership means Verizon will offer its 5G Standalone Connected Vehicle services to BMW, so all new BMW vehicles produced for the US market will use Verizon’s mobile network. The press release does not explicitly specify which new models will benefit from Verizon and KDDI’s connected driving experience.
Our educated guess is that the new Neue Klasse-based models, such as the recently launched iX3 and iX5, will be among the first to benefit from Verizon’s fast and reliable 5G network.
BMW’s Mini brand was also mentioned in the press release. However, given that the Cooper Electric, Aceman, and Countryman are all models from 2023 and 2024, we will likely see KDDI and Verizon’s connected vehicle services appear on newer models going forward.
