A fine Monday to everybody, readers. Good morning.
Let’s get right to it — we’ve got Vay Technology + Verizon Business news to share.
Take a look at the photo above. A mostly sunny day out in Las Vegas, featuring a teleoperated vehicle from Vay Technology.
At the time of this article’s publication, Vay currently operates its remotely driven electric vehicles (EVs) in Sin City. Conveniently, they can be rented by the minute. When someone orders a ride via the Vay app, a Vay EV teledriver delivers one of their vehicles to the user’s location. Upon delivery, the user then assumes control of the vehicle and drives it themselves to wherever their destination may be. Once this journey is complete, the user exits and returns control to the Vay teledriver, who proceeds to “pick up” the vehicle and take it to the next customer’s location; rinse and repeat, as they say.
Naturally, there will be folks who are floored by this idea (and are excited to try it), and those who may experience hesitancy. (Especially after instances like last month’s in San Francisco, where a different company’s driverless vehicles were stuck in a parking lot, honking at each other while attempting to exit.)
However, that’s the key here — Vay’s EVs are not without drivers at all. That’s the distinction; to clarify, this teleoperation involves Vay operators that (as mentioned above) remotely drive the vehicles themselves. So once a Vay customer gets in the car and can take the wheel in their own hands, confidence for many is restored. Ferrying their vehicles to customers, in this respect, is a bit of a balancing act between strictly traditionally operated vehicles and completely driverless ones.
And now, Vay Technology has entered an agreement with Verizon Business that will ideally spark greater confidence for users — Verizon 5G connectivity will enhance Vay’s EVs. (And per the official announcement, this deal also includes custom data plans to help manage the massive amounts of data generated by Vay vehicles’ sensors and cameras.)
According to Verizon Business, this will make Vay’s operations “even smoother and more reliable,” given Verizon’s already well-trusted, high-performance, low-latency 5G connectivity and the many capabilities therein.
I’ve said it before (here on Smart City Sentinel, as well as on other sites of ours like IoT Evolution World and 5G Evolution World), but I’ll say it again: Connectivity is the lifeblood of endeavors like these, which is why Verizon’s 5G services are poised to make Vay’s operations even more of a convenient reality for car-share app users. Verizon also has the potential here to support Vay in transmitting telematics and/or diagnostic information from Vay vehicles to Vay and its customers, as well as a.) transmitting over-the-air software and firmware updates to Vay vehicles and b.) paving the way for additional teleoperational mobility solutions.
“Verizon’s technology has been critical for Vay’s entry into the U.S. market from Europe, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them as we expand our commercial and B2B businesses,” explained Thomas von der Ohe, CEO and co-founder of Vay Technology. “Verizon’s coverage, performance and network reliability are essential for handling the data load inherent to teleoperating our fleet to the highest standards of safety and capability.”
TJ Fox, Senior Vice President of Industrial IoT and Automotive at Verizon Business, also commented.
“Vay’s unique operational model shows the importance of mobile connectivity for the future of transportation. From Vay’s app-based user interface to their high-tech teledriving command centers to the vehicle fleet itself, connectivity touches all corners of the business,” Fox said. “We’re thrilled to work with a company as innovative as Vay, which can use our unrivaled network to fuel their expansions throughout the U.S.”
Learn more about innovations like this — from 5G and up-and-coming smart cities, to IoT, IIoT and beyond — at ITEXPO 2025 and IoT Evolution Expo 2025. Both part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW experience taking place from February 11-13, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, those joining us for these events will experience the combination of educational conference programming with a robust exhibit hall, networking events and other activities, bringing together prospective buyers and long-time providers of business technology products and services.
Edited by
Alex Passett
