AirIQ launches consumer telematics, leveraging commercial fleet business

AirIQ Inc. has expanded into consumer telematics with the launch of its MobileIQ service, a strategy the company talked about in an interview with Report on Wireless last year (RoW, Sept. 16/02). The Toronto-based company has developed a solid commercial fleet business with more than 40,000 subscribers and is now set to use that existing infrastructure to inexpensively enter the burgeoning consumer space. Entering the consumer market is a natural progression from the company’s commercial offering, Miguel Gonsalves, VP marketing and investor relations at AirIQ, tells Report on Wireless. "We’ve always had our eye on the consumer space, but felt that the commercial market was ready for it first in terms of the kind of thrust we wanted to have…Then, once we achieved a certain critical mass and success, had the core infrastructure, not just the technology, but the people infrastructure and skill sets, then we could basically re-apply those towards the larger consumer market without having to duplicate (anything). "We’ve built the base and though we were focused on acquiring commercial customers, it was a matter of timing for us when the technology was ready, when AirIQ was ready, and certainly even when the space was ready in our opinion," Gonsalves explains. Early last month, the company completed development on technology that would allow it to more easily target consumers. On October 1, AirIQ and Solectron Corp. announced that they had completed work on the VehicleConnect module, which enhances AirIQ’s telematics offering by integrating the ability to remotely obtain information from the vehicle’s electronics system, report vehicle trouble codes and send safety alarms from the vehicle’s supplementary restraint system, such as airbag deployment. The consumer product development strategy was originally pursued in conjunction with Delphi Corp., but the decision to switch to Solectron allowed AirIQ to gain access to vehicle manufacturer codes. "We believe that’s a premium technological differentiator," Gonsalves says. AirIQ isn’t alone in the consumer space, Gonsalves concedes, though competition is limited to the vehicle recovery market. The enhanced telematics capabilities of the VehicleConnect module provide AirIQ with an added edge in its quest to secure market share. The company has taken a two-pronged approach to the consumer market, opting for both a private label or licensing and an AirIQ branded service. Gonsalves sees demand for private labeling in the market. "We believe that there are others out there in different types of business that serve the consumer market already. Their core business is something else, but a natural addition would be a telematics service. So we’ve built our (application service provider) model to license and brand it to others, while at the same time we are very keen on taking this to the market ourselves directly," Gonsalves explains. He couldn’t talk about which companies or types of companies would be interesting in licensing AirIQ’s MobileIQ service due to non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements. Nor would Gonsalves reveal pricing on the consumer service. Initially, the service will be targeted at the North American market, but there are plans to expand globally, Gonsalves says. He couldn’t provide specifics on when a worldwide move would happen, only to say that "we tend to base our next move on reaching certain critical success milestones, but we’ve always had a global outlook of our business."

AirIQ launches consumer telematics, leveraging commercial fleet business

News | 11/05/2003 5:00 am EST

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