Finnish telecommunications powerhouse Nokia has expressed his frustrations with its connected car project in Europe. The head of Nokia's V2X program, Uwe Puetzschler, has warned that Europe 'is not as happy as it should be' and derided the poor quality of networks available to them in their bid to advance the connected car sector.
In an interview at Mobile World Congress Shanghai, he emphasized the necessity for better networks and said that one of the biggest issues in the development of connected cars is the difference in 'connectivity' around the world. He cited Korea and Japan as examples of regions that have access to excellent network coverage, and attributed that as the primary reason those nations are leading the way in terms of the race to develop the 'connected car'.
According to the Nokia executive, Europe was lagging behind in the connected car race - and claimed that the car industry isn't able to accelerate in the way they want to because 'network coverage' remains a huge challenge. Puetzschler was adamant that they required full network coverage in order to provide customers with the right experience.
The head of Nokia's V2X initiative declared that enhancing network coverage in order to develop connected and automated driving is one of two key priorities for Nokia in the segment. In addition to this, Puetzschler stressed that quite simply there are some requirements that today's networks cannot currently meet to the extent and satisfaction the car industry needs, but vowed that Nokia will continue to explore ways in which it can improve this.
The second direction that Nokia is aggressively pursuing is to provide and establish a 'common platform' that can manage cars which will be then subsequently utilized to manage the applications associated with the use of cars. Despite voicing his concerns and frustrations, Puetzschler reiterated his belief that connected car programs represents a number of great opportunities for operators.