Delivering IVHS to the Marketplace: A Providers Perspective

Mark Licht

Abstract:	The foundation for a new communications revolution is now unfolding in computer hardware and software manu- facturing companies, in the research labs of telecommuni- cations fiis, and on highways around the world. Computing and wireless telecommunications technologies are uniting to deliver anywhere, anytime voice and data communication services; capabilities which are expected to dramatically change the way consumers, businesses and government agencies exchange and access information. Simultaneously, Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems (IVHS) technologies - most now under development but some already available - are expected to transform the methods used to manage traffic congestion and related transportation problems that currently besiege United States and international roadways. The U.S. market potential for enhanced mobile com- munications and IVHS services is projected by industry analysts to be vast. The growth of cellular users, says the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, is ex- pected to continue at breakneck speed, reaching an estimated 15 million subscribers by 1995. A study conducted by Booz Allen &Hamilton suggested that mobile computing devices -notebooks, organizers, personal digital assistants and other types of pen-based computers - are expected to be used by 30 million people by decade’s end. According to a 1990 study done by the Freedonia Group, 3.5 percent of all light vehicles in the United States will be equipped with naviga- tion terminals by the end of this decade. And in theFebruary 1993 issue of Fleet Owner magazine, senior editor David Gullen writes that, “If industry estimates are correct, the overall market for IVHS technologies is valued at more than $200 billion over the next 20 years in the U.S. alone.” PacTel Teletrac, a U.S. provider of wireless location, information and communications services, believes that the wireless computing and the communications industries will converge with IVHS services. It is our position that the proliferation of personal communications and computing devices will create a large user base for the IVHS industry because this hardware provides a natural link between the user, the wireless network and a palette of IVHS services. Furthermore, inexpensive, easy-to-use and universally compatible IVHS services will greatly increase the consumer’s perceived value of these devices. PacTel Teletrac is working towards making this con- vergence areality. Rather than developing closed-architecture IVHS systems which will require expensive dedicated hardware and software, Teletrac is designing a menu of IVHS services to be fully compatible with most types of mobile computing devices. We believe that consumers will be quick to adopt IVHS services if they can access these services from a single piece of hardware that is not techno- logically limited, but offers “all-in-one” computing, communications and IVHS solutions for people on the move.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 49th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1993) June 21 - 23, 1993 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	95 - 98
Cite this article:	Licht, Mark, "Delivering IVHS to the Marketplace: A Providers Perspective," Proceedings of the 49th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1993), Cambridge, MA, June 1993, pp. 95-98.
Full Paper:	ION Members/Non-Members: 1 Download Credit Sign In