Verizon, Telus aim to solve roaming challenge in 5G connected car trial

A live international connected car trial kicked off Wednesday in Virginia, where participants are looking to solve one of the technical challenges for 5G connected cars: vehicles roaming between different operators without interruption to connected services such as traffic safety.

The trial is taking place in Blacksburg, Virginia, and involves eight members of the 5G Automotive Association, led by Intel and Verizon, with Telus and Capgemini among others participating.

Carriers AT&T and Verizon have each already inked their first 5G connected car deals, with GM and Audi, respectively. In those separate agreements, 5G technology is going to be embedded starting with model-year 2024 vehicles.

But as is the case in vehicles, drivers in cars that have 5G-enabled safety and other features will be on the move and it’s key to ensure V2X (vehicle-to-everything) services can happen uninterrupted even as they travel across borders with different networks and edge infrastructure that varies by region and the carrier operating it.