Mercedes offers connected services in its recent cars which notably allow you to benefit from an on-board Wi-Fi connection. And to do this, the German manufacturer imposes an operator, namely SFR. An obligation which does not delight this driver who has decided to contact the fraud prevention service in France.
Nowadays, more and more car manufacturers are offering connected services in their cars, including an on-board Wi-Fi connection. This is the case, for example, of Mercedes with Mercedes Me, a digital platform that offers owners a multitude of services. Drivers can interact with their car via the Mercedes Me mobile application to unlock the doors remotely, control the air conditioning or even locate their vehicle in real time.
They can also access vehicle status information such as remaining range, fuel level or planning optimized routes. Thanks to the built-in Wi-Fi connection, drivers can also research online on the multimedia system or transform their car into a workstation via the In-Car Office pack (Office solutions optimized for this use). And to offer all these connected features, the German manufacturer requires subscription to a telecom subscription provided by SFR in France and Vodafone in other countries of the Old Continent.
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This driver does not want the SFR network in his Mercedes, he attacks the manufacturer
However, and according to our colleagues from the site l’Informed, this detail annoys this owner, to such an extent that he decided to contact the General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) against Mercedes. “To have the vehicle’s Wi-Fi hotspot functionality, I wanted to use the operator of my choice via my smartphone, without using the Mercedes SIM card. Unfortunately, I was made to understand that this was impossible,” explains the complainant.
In his eyes, it is therefore a forced sale, which is why the driver chose to turn to the French institution. For his part, Mercedes actually recognized that it was impossible to choose another operator, the SIM card being directly sealed in the car’s telecom module, and therefore inaccessible to the driver. “For the rest, each customer has the choice of activating or not their connected services delivered as standard. Mercedes Me connected services, through which you can remotely consult the vehicle’s mechanical data and unlock the doors, can only be activated via the SIM card integrated into the vehicle using the Vodafone/SFR network. a spokesperson for the brand told the Star.
To justify itself, Mercedes also explains that SFR is the only operator currently offering an “Internet in the Car” offer developed to offer a mini internet network in the passenger compartment of a car. Finally and according to the German firm, nothing prevents customers from refusing this service and create a Wi-Fi network by simply sharing the connection from their smartphone via the mobile data of their personal plan. Casually, this case could well set a precedent depending on its outcome. For good reason, many manufacturers are seeking to develop their connected service offerings. The DGCCRF’s conclusions could lead manufacturers to modify their policy regarding the telecoms networks used to offer on-board Wi-Fi.