Telstra Gets Approval to conduct Trial on Connected Vehicle Technology in Australia

Australia’s largest telco company, Telstra and vehicle maker Lexus have been granted funds worth USD 3.5M from the Government of Victoria, Australia. The funds will be used to test new communication technologies in cars.

Australia’s cellular V2X technology and advanced driver technologies will be tested during the trial. The trial will be powered by Telstra’s 4GX network.  The trial will help the cars to connect themselves with each other and connect to traffic management and other services through cloud services.

The trial is a part of USD 9MTowards Zero Connected and Automated Vehicle Trial Grants Program. It will pave the way for Lexus Australia, Telstra, TACc and VicRoads to gain better knowledge about “lifesaving technology”, with a view to make it available commercially in the upcoming years.

According to Samantha Cockfield transport accident commission director Road Safety, emerging technologies, like the ones being texted will provide exciting opportunities to further boost road safety and increase the understanding of what Victoria needs to do to prepare for connected and automated vehicles.

Two specially equipped Lexus 450h F Sport luxury SUVs will be deployed in the trial. The SUV will be equipped with cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology.

Apart from all that, Telstra will also investigate other applications like traffic light timing, how to securely send speed zone, and other signals to cars so all the information can be available to help prevent road trauma.