Audi A8 to Get LTE Broadband Connection

Earlier today, we reported that Audi is offering customers of the Audi A6 the possibility to order LED headlights that offer a white light and come with a low energy consumption. Now, it is time for the German carmaker’s flagship model, the A8, to receive new technology. The luxury saloon is on its way to receiving a state-of-the-art broadband Internet connection.

The story started during last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, when Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, announced that the company will offer LTE technology starting from this year. Now the carmaker, together with its development partner, Alcatel-Lucent, is presenting a prototype A8L (long wheelbase version of the car) that uses this technology.

“We will use LTE technology to extend our advantage in automotive networking and further consolidate the Audi connect strategy,” said Michael Dick, Audi Board Member for Technical Development, during the presentation of the prototype.

The LTE is the successor to the current 3G technology, which also includes the UTMS mobile communications standard. LTE has been engineered to provide very high data transfer rates that can reach up to 100 Mbit per second. For the sake of comparison, we;ll tell you that a fast 3G connection offers around 14.4 Mbit per second.

“With its short transfer rates, LTE mobile communications allow significantly faster access to Internet content and allow large amounts of data to be exchanged. For demonstration the technicians used the LTE connection for transmitting high-definition videos live to the vehicle,” stated the press release.