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AT&T adds Jaguar Land Rover to fleet of connected car partnerships

The company also unveiled a personal security service as an add-on to its Digital Life home security offering.

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Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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Roger Cheng
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AT&T began connecting Range Rover Sport models with a cellular radio this month. Jaguar Land Rover

LAS VEGAS -- AT&T's mission to connect every car on the road keeps rolling.

The nation's second-largest wireless carrier said on Thursday that it had signed a multi-year deal to provide a cellular connection to Jaguar Land Rover's vehicles. AT&T said it began offering a wireless connection to Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models this month. AT&T Mobility CEO Glenn Lurie is set to talk about the deal in his keynote address at the CTIA Wireless industry trade show later today.

It's the latest win by AT&T, which has aggressively pushed to add a wireless connection to several major auto makers, including General Motors, Audi, Tesla and others. AT&T sees connected cars as alternative growth engine as its core smartphone business starts to cool down amid mounting industry competition.

Like other connected car deals, AT&T will provide a cellular connection to power Jaguar Land Rover's navigation and suite of apps, as well as provide a Wi-Fi hotspot for its cars. Passengers with smartphones or tablets could ride on that Wi-Fi hotspot.

AT&T customers with a connected Land Rover or Jaguar can pay an additional $10 a month to add their vehicle to a Mobile Share Value family plan. Or they can pay $5 a day for 250 megabytes of data or 30-day passes that range between $10 and $50 a month. A 12 month, 10 gigabyte plan costs $199 a year. Jaguar didn't provide details on how non-AT&T customers could sign up for the service.

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Personal security

AT&T also said it was building upon its Digital Life security service by offering a Personal Security app, offering monitoring services and support on the road.

The app allows customers to trigger a one-click alert to contact a Digital Life security-monitoring center in case of an emergency. The security center will be able to dispatch emergency services, as well as provide additional information such as specific medical conditions like allergies.

Users can also opt to let the monitoring center view live audio and video of their condition to get a better sense of the situation. You will also be able to set a timer that will trigger an alert unless cancelled, which might provide someone with an extra measure of comfort when walking through a dark, deserted parking lot.

There's also a messaging feature that allows people to alerts with status updates along with location information, as well as a mapping feature that shows your location and the location of your family members.

AT&T will offer the service as a free trial to existing Digital Life subscribers starting in November.