“Many vehicle manufacturers already have their plans in place, but there are a significant number that have been waiting for confirmation from the EC that eCall will become a mandatory requirement,” said McClure. It is this group of “wait-and-see” carmakers that will have to act fast to catch up with their rivals that already have concrete plans for providing eCall automatic emergency assistance systems.

At last week’s meeting of the European eCall Implementation Platform, the EC announced that “significant” progress in deploying eCall had not been achieved on a voluntary basis, so it is pressing ahead with legislation to enforce implementation.

In addition to the automotive industry, the proposed eCall legislation will impact the mobile phone network operators and national governments that will have to upgrade their rescue services call centres to be able to receive the vehicle location and identification data sent by the car.

“SBD has been firmly behind the eCall concept for many years and has supported vehicle manufacturers in developing strategies for implementation,” explains McClure.

“Although this decision by the EC will give strong impetus to the programme, there is a danger that the member state national governments are lagging behind the automotive industry and mobile network operators in getting ready for eCall,” he warns.

Getting ready for eCall, SBD’s new report, highlights the issue of whether national governments will be ready in time for when eCall is launched in cars from 2013. The report also focuses on strategies developed by vehicle manufacturers to maximise the opportunities from eCall, such as piggy-backing additional revenue-generating telematics services, and minimising the costs of providing the hardware.