Hyundai Mobis, the car parts making arm of Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday that it has partnered with telecommunication company KT to jointly develop connected car technologies. 

The companies have launched fifth-generation network service at Hyundai Mobis’ test ground in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, in an effort to ramp up the drive for connected car research and development.

A connected car refers to a car equipped with internet access, usually a wireless local area network. This allows the car to share internet access and data with other devices inside and outside the vehicle. It is the first attempt for an auto parts maker to collaborate with a telecommunication company for technology development in Korea, according to Hyundai.

Based on the 5G network, Hyundai Mobis has kicked off technology development for a real-time navigation update system and Cellular Vehicle-To-Everything (C-V2X) technology. The company said it would secure the related technologies by the end of the year. 

Currently, navigation programs use the fourth-generation network, which takes from several minutes to tens of minutes for an update. The 5G network, which is at least 100 times faster, enables real-time navigation updates, according to the firm.

Hyundai Mobis plans to collect traffic information by using sensors of its autonomous car model M.BILLY to extract and send key driving information to the server. KT will be responsible for connecting 5G network devices attached on M.Billy to the 5G network station, it added. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)