Road safety tech plan hit by telcos-auto turf war
India’s plans to deploy vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications have hit a roadblock as a turf war has erupted among telecom operators, technology vendors and automotive bodies over who gets to control the ecosystem of the critical tool envisioned to help curb the country’s high road fatalities.
The telecom regulator had invited comments from stakeholders on V2X. The technology, proposed to be deployed by city bodies or highway authorities, instead of a traditional, commercial, telecom service, enables real-time collision avoidance, emergency warnings and traffic optimisation to reduce road congestion. Road accidents claimed more than 173,000 lives in the country in 2023 alone.
