German Toll Collect Only the Beginning of DSRC's Potential, Finds ABI Research

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.--Jan. 2, 20050, 2005--After more than a year of delays, the German Toll Collect project was finally launched at the start of 2005, with few operational problems. Now that the launch has occurred without any major issues, other European nations will examine this type of project for their own road-tolling needs, and Germany is already discussing expanding the system to include passenger cars rather than just commercial trucks.

According to findings from market intelligence firm ABI Research, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) shows early appeal for vehicle identification and fee collection purposes. But its potential is actually much greater. "DSRC will really take off when integrated with a safety and traffic information system," says ABI Research senior analyst Dan Benjamin. "It becomes a value-added feature for OEMs when they can sell it as part of a safety or navigation system. This could help raise the selling price of a vehicle and add to the OEM's revenue stream."

ABI Research's report: "Dedicated Short Range Communications: The Emerging Wi-Fi and RFID Market for Advanced Automotive Identification, Commerce and Communications," explores all of the potential DSRC market niches and technological approaches, including toll collection, safety, traffic information gathering and distribution, identification, commerce, and meshing. The report analyzes RFID- and Wi-Fi-based offerings for the vehicle, along with competing and supporting technologies for DSRC networks, in addition to potential business models.

ABI Research sees DSRC as a natural extension of the evolving vehicle safety system market. OEMs are already investing heavily in systems that can detect the speed of surrounding vehicles and road conditions. It is logical, and far simpler, to have each vehicle simply transmit its telemetry data to surrounding vehicles, so all DSRC-enabled systems will be able to take advantage. However, the report cautions that such systems remain in very preliminary stages of development.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations that support annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in automotive, semiconductors, wireless, broadband, and energy. For more information please visit www.abiresearch.com, or call 516-624-2500.