TIM Brasil has partnered with Dutch multinational automotive manufacturer Stellantis to launch a connectivity offer for cars. The new Jeep Renegade, the first connected vehicle from Stellantis, uses the operator’s Adventure Intelligence Platform with an eSIM to access the native Wi-Fi on board. Three data packages are available (with allowances of 5 GB, 10 GB and 40 GB, respectively) priced at between BRL 30.00 (US $5.27) and BRL 100.00 (US $17.58) per month.
Within the vehicle, the internet can be shared among as many as eight devices. Depending on the option chosen, various entertainment apps are available, as well, and the 10 GB and 40 GB packages also include zero-rated data for use with the Waze navigation app.
Tarifica’s Take
As in-car Wi-Fi technology expands its reach, mobile operators looking for revenue opportunities are finding this to be a worthwhile field to enter. TIM Brasil’s automotive offer combines a suite of data plans with a particular connected vehicle for a truly value-added product.
The choice of data allowances provides the flexibility that consumers increasingly demand, and the eSIM permits easy, seamless connectivity. Zero-rating data for popular apps has proved a persuasive marketing strategy for many different kinds of plans, and in this case Waze, a highly effective app purpose-built for navigation while driving, is the perfect choice for a plan intended for use in a car (at least for the two higher-data options within the suite).
In the U.S. and other developed markets, car-buyers have many options when it comes to choosing a vehicle with built-in Wi-Fi capacity, while in Brazil, such cars may be more rare. Certainly, for TIM to offer an exclusive data plan custom-made for one model stands to put the operator in a relatively strong position within the market and to be mutually beneficial for itself and Stellantis.
While there are a number of Wi-Fi router options available now, built-in Wi-Fi is more desirable because it gets better reception by virtue of using the entire frame of the vehicle to receive the cellular signal. And of course Wi-Fi allows for sharing of the service between several devices used by passengers and driver (up to eight in this case), as well as keeping device batteries from running down on long trips.