Just how big a market connected car services might provide for mobile service providers is not clear yet, though some surveys suggest it might be significant.

A consumer survey by Parks Associates has found that 33 percent of U.S. broadband households are “highly interested” in connected car features that include the ability to listen to online music and audio.

That should immediately raise at least some reasonable questions. Connected car audio services would have to compete with Sirius XM and methods of docking existing smart phones to car audio systems.

“One third of car owners, and over 50 percent of luxury car owners, now have connected car capabilities, and most of them use the features on at least a monthly basis,” said Jennifer Kent, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates. "The ability to play MP3 files on the car stereo is most common by far, but communication features such as the ability to listen to texts/email read aloud are becoming more popular.”

Only 16 percent of broadband households are “very interested in online video” features for passengers, but in both instances, interest skews strongly toward smartphone owners.

From the article, "Will Car Phone History Apply to Connected Car?" by Gary Kim.

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