Vinli is not just for Americans anymore. The Dallas-based connected car platform, with 4G LTE service powered by T-Mobile in the United States, has now expanded its service outside the U.S. to offer the most advanced cloud-connected-car system in the Middle East in partnership with VIVA Bahrain. This collaboration, announced at the Mobile World Congress, with one of the region’s most innovative telecom operators and a subsidiary of the Saudi Telecom Company (STC), marks a major milestone in Vinli’s mission to bring connectivity to the one billion cars on the road today globally.
Vinli’s expansion into the Middle East is driven by growing car usage, vehicle sales and the rising GDP across the region. This is further spurred by the increasing rise in customer demand for car connectivity as a result of internet and mobile usage. Moreover, the expansion is also relevantly scheduled at a time when transport and communications have become Bahrain’s fastest growing sectors, contributing to more than 7% of the Kingdom’s GDP.
“We’re thrilled to bring Vinli to the Middle East as we roll out our international expansion for 2016,” says Vinli’s COO Derek Chapin. “Bahrain is the first of many more countries to come for Vinli. We’re focused this year on meeting the incredible demand for connected vehicle services around the world. VIVA Bahrain is exactly the kind of innovative partner we seek as we continue our global expansion.”
Andrew Hanna, VIVA Bahrain, Chief Commercial Officer added: “Internet of Things is progressing towards impacting everything and in future it will transform the economy, society and the way that we live. With this increasing digitalization, we will be focusing on Cloud computing services across our retail offerings, which is not only going to drive new ways of doing things in communications, but also enable us to explore new avenues.”
“This cloud-based connected car solution offered through our collaboration with Vinli, is the first of many innovative services being introduced. It will deliver a connected-life offering to our customers on our fast 4G network which can extend beyond the home or the office and into the car.”
Bringing Vinli to new regions represents an incredible growth opportunity for the entire connected car industry, including car makers, telecom providers, and software companies. Vinli’s open developer platform continues to expand with more than 2,000 partners and developers across the globe integrating with Vinli’s cloud platform and app marketplace.
Developers today can download Vinli’s free SDKs, generate API keys, and simulate car apps using Virtual Vinli, a powerful prototyping simulator that allows developers anywhere to test builds of their app during development cycles. Once ready, developers can make their apps available to the connected car masses by listing in the Vinli App Catalog.
Vinli has launched market trials in Lebanon, and with other international car makers and carrier partners in preparation of expanding its connected car platform in 2016 to Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Europe, and elsewhere.