In 2016, BMW, Audi and Daimler AG, together with Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm, launched the “5G Automotive Association” that will develop, test and promote communications solutions, support standardization and accelerate commercial availability and global market penetration.

The goal of this new endeavor is to address society’s connected mobility and road safety needs with applications such as connected automated driving, ubiquitous access to services and integration into smart cities and intelligent transportation. We’ve already talked yesterday about the importance of 5G in future self-driving cars.

Now according to DriveMag, Vodafone is working with BMW on an international level to allow autonomous cars to use its networks. “We think that 5G is crucial for the further development of autonomous vehicles. Vodafone is working with several major manufacturers. I can name BMW as one of those car makers”, explained for Drivemag.com Murielle Lorilloux, CEO of Vodafone Romania.

Vodafone is already launching their 4.5G services across Europe, which is an important milestone on the way to faster networks. The UK based carrier hopes to launch full 5G capability as soon as 2019.