Telefonica joined other leading operators and car manufacturers in the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), adding its expertise to the body, which is committed to accelerating development of autonomous and connected cars.

The 5GAA launched in September 2016 and counts Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, AT&T, Huawei, Ford and BMW among its members. The cross-industry body aims to develop use cases, business models, address technical connectivity issues and influence regulatory standards for the connected vehicle sector.

Since its launch, the association attracted support from a range of companies and organisations across a number of industries.

Telefonica is an active advocate of connected vehicle development, with the company participating in a demonstration of “5G driving” in partnership with Ericsson at Mobile World Congress in February.

In a statement announcing its 5GAA membership, Telefonica said it also participating in the European Automotive Telecom Alliance, as it bids to play its part in the promotion and development of autonomous vehicle technology in the region.

Telefonica chief IoT officer Vicente Munoz said: “We are delighted to join the 5GAA to bring all our efforts on the 5G technology to the automotive industry. We recently showcased our recent progress in 5G with our connected car demo at MWC in Barcelona and continue to work in this arena to make things move faster”.