Telstra has struck a $17 million agreement with ASX-listed P2P Transport to fit digital advertising screens in up to 900 hire cars such as taxis that can target passengers in real-time.

The telco said it will use both its “IoT and digital media expertise” to enable “real-time and relevant advertising to be displayed on 900 P2P vehicles as they move throughout Australia.”

P2P leases vehicles to individual taxi drivers, ride-sharing drivers and limousine operators. It has about 2600 vehicles in total on its books.

“By combining Telstra’s mobile and IoT networks with an industry-standard content management system, advertisers can control their own content to deliver specific messaging for particular times and locations,” the two companies said this week.

“For example, pushing out lunchtime-specific messages when workers are on the hunt for something to eat.”

The screens have in-built GPS to allow location-based messages to be targeted to passengers.

“We’re really excited to work with P2P Transport to support this next generation mobile advertising solution using our comprehensive IoT offering and business-grade mobile network,” Telstra Enterprise chief customer officer John Ieraci said.

The partnership will see 300 screens rolled out on taxis initially, followed by a further 600 screens over the next three years.