Uber and AT&T team up for always-on connectivity for Uber Copter and Uber Air

Uber is partnering with mobile network operator AT&T on the always-on connectivity it’ll require for its aerial transportation service network. The on-demand mobility company announced the team-up at its annual Elevate Summit, which brings together a number of key players working toward making affordable, accessible in-city aerial transit a reality.

Uber said that it’s already working with AT&T on the network it’ll use for Uber Copter, the Manhattan-to-JFK helicopter-based service that it’s launching in New York in July. The service is promising connection with ground transportation at both ends, and it’s also anticipating travel times and working backwards to provide transportation on-demand as needed to get passengers to their destination at the time they request. So, for instance, Uber Copter customers could say they need to be at JFK by 5 PM and the app will figure out when they need to get a car to get to the heliport to make that work.

This is just the first step in a broader-ranging partnership Uber Elevate Head of Product Nikhil Goel described that will eventually scale to cover all of its needs for Uber Air, the service it aims to provide that will provide on-demand short-distance air travel within cities, with a targeted launch time frame of 2023. Goel noted that this will also include leveraging AT&T’s 5G network as it rolls out, which should provide exactly the kind of high-bandwidth, always-on reliability needed for this kind of aerial and ground-based integrated transportation network.