Cubic3, providers advanced connectivity solutions for software-defined vehicles across 200+ countries, have published a thought-provoking blog on the subject of connectivity in connected cars.
“L”ast weekend a Verizon outage in the US led to thousands of Americans smartphones being offline in major cities like Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago,”says the Cubic3 team. “Those most affected were unable to text, use their mobile data or make calls apart from emergency 911 calls. It follows disruptions to other provider networks in the US in April and August as well as a multi-operator outage in the UK in July.
“Infrastructure vulnerabilities, geopolitical factors, increased network dependency and the rise of 5G are all contributing factors to outages. In terms of network dependency, the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs), 5G-enabled IoT and smart infrastructure means more devices rely on constant connectivity. For connected cars, outages can disrupt remote access, safety features and over-the-air (OTA) updates, as seen with AT&T’s 2024 outage affecting Volvo and Ford Mach-E users. Greater network dependency also means that even brief outages – for example AT&T’s 19-minute disruption in April 2025 – seem even more noticeable and disruptive to users.
The transition to 5G and hybrid networks also brings additional complexity as there are more points of failure. While 5G aims for higher reliability, initial deployments can lead to temporary outages, as seen in early 5G rollouts in 2020–2023. However, as it matures, and satellite connectivity becomes more integrated, the frequency of these outages may stabilise or decrease for critical applications. This will be hugely beneficial for connected cars.
Connected car solutions such as the adoption of a connectivity management platform for vehicles, eSIM technology and multi-MNO strategy are key for OEMs to manage outage risks. These solutions, reduce the impact of disruptions, potentially offsetting any increase in raw outage frequency for connected cars.
Click HERE to read the full article.
(Pic: Cubic3)
