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Audi
LAS VEGAS — AT&T is hooking up another Audi car with a wireless connection, as well as making it part of AT&T’s Mobile Share family data plan.
The 2015 Audi Q3 crossover vehicle is the second model from the automaker to get a connection, following the 2015 A3 sedan, which was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.One notable difference, though: Where the A3 gets 4G LTE service, the Q3 will use the slower HSPA+ technology.
AT&T customers looking to add a connected Audi — including the Q3 — to their shared data plan can do so for $10 a month — the same rate as a tablet, AT&T said here Wednesday at the CTIA wireless trade show. The announcement of the shared data plan follows two standalone plans for vehicles — a 5GB, six-month plan for $99 and a 30GB, 30-month plan for $499 — that were announced in March.
This is all part of the continued momentum in the connected car arena, in which AT&T has planted a large flag with its Drive development platform. It has opened up a lab in Atlanta for the development of connected cars, called AT&T Drive Studio, and has signed on big-name companies such as General Motors, Audi and Tesla.
On Friday, AT&T said AccuWeather, Glympse, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Streetline with the Parker app, and Tribune Digital Ventures had all agreed to develop their car apps through the Drive platform. Additionally, AT&T announced a sponsorship agreement with TeleCommunication Systems for the studio.
AT&T is keen to expand into new areas because its most-recent source of growth — smartphone plans — is starting to slow since so many consumers have already shifted to smartphones. The company is looking to tablets, the digital home, and connected cars, among other items, as new sources of revenue.
Correction, 9:04 a.m. PT: The original version of this story cited the wrong wireless technology in use in the Audi Q3. The Q3 will be featuring HSPA+ wireless service.
