AT&T Announces New Personal Security App, Connected Car Collaborations at CTIA

It wasn’t enough for AT&T Mobility President & CEO Glenn Lurie to make just one major announcement during his keynote address at CTIA Super Mobility 2015 Thursday.

He had to make several.

Most significantly, AT&T used the stage in front of a packed crowd, including their biggest competitors, to introduce new personal security, fleet tracking and connected car solutions.

On the personal security front, Lurie announced the Digital Life Personal Security app, essentially a panic button for your smartphone that’s fully monitored and connected to emergency services much like home security and automation components of the Digital Life portfolio. The innovation came from customer feedback that “Digital Life is terrific, but you can’t take it with you.”

Lurie said this technology was personal to him as the father of a 19-year-old daughter.

“Imagine the opportunity of a 24/7 monitoring facility taking care of her, the ability for her to hit a button and instantly know where she is and instantly have the police come,” he said. “We’re going to offer to digital life customers and offer to anybody who wants to add this to their smartphone.”

AT&T also announced major collaborations with connected vehicle technology provider Telogis and automaker Jaguar Land Rover North America. Telogis’ software-as-a-service-based telematics software will allow AT&T to offer full-fleet solutions for business. Telogis is already the commercial vehicle telematics provider used by Ford, General Motors, Volvo, Mack and Isuzu. Meanwhile The AT&T service management platform allows Telogis to “manage the data, devices and services that support its customers,” according to a press release on the AT&T and Telogis announcement.

With Jaguar and Land Rover, AT&T connectivity will power the infotainment features, including Wi-Fi hotspot, navigation and apps. AT&T had already begun equipping Range Rover models with the technology earlier this month; this announcement is an expansion of that to other Jaguar and Land Rover models, which will come later this year. AT&T customers will be able to share one data plan for their smartphone and car with a Mobile Share Value plan, which is $10 per month.

“We view the connected car as the next great device in your life,” said Lurie, who also gave a keynote at last year’s CTIA conference. “About half of the cars this year will be connected by AT&T.”