By now you’ve almost certainly heard about 4G LTE. Yes, that 4G LTE, the fast data connection which is being built into seemingly every OnStar-equipped Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicle—as well as many vehicles from other manufacturers—as this is being typed. GM’s 4G LTE service is provided by AT&T, meaning that when the data service’s free trial is up, customers must re-up their data subscription through either OnStar or, if they’re an AT&T customer, add their car to their mobile data plan for $10 per month. But what if you didn’t want either option, and instead wanted to, say, link your Tahoe to an existing Verizon data plan? Could you “jailbreak” or unlock a GM vehicle to use with different mobile carriers?
Keen on figuring this out, we asked Terry Inch, General Motors’ executive director of global connected-car experience operations, whether customers could or would soon be able to do this. Surprisingly, Inch told us that such capability is “a horizon point” for the connected-car team, but added that “it’s not something you’ll see in 2015 or 2016.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether GM vehicles use a typical SIM card embedded in the unit that receives the AT&T signal (and also houses the built-in Wi-Fi hotspot hardware), which would be easy to swap out for other SIM cards, or if the connection’s source was more bespoke. Either way, we’re told that GM has at least given serious thought to the possibility of opening up the connection to other carriers. After all, not everybody uses AT&T, and it could be a huge draw for consumers to simply add their car to their Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint phone plans if for some reason they didn’t want to pay into OnStar.
Hurdles still exist, however. Currently, the 4G LTE service is bundled with OnStar, and it’s a connection that runs deeper than marketing. AT&T provides the connection for OnStar service, in addition to a simple data connection for the onboard Wi-Fi hotspot, meaning incorporating other carriers requires plenty of compatibility testing to ensure OnStar service isn’t affected. For now GM is sticking with AT&T, getting its 4G LTE off the ground with customers—a task apparently easier than it sounds, as early data indicates that over 50 percent of customers are choosing to continue the data service after the free trial expires.
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