Standards need to come into force to enable Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications to be carried across 4G LTE at the same price point as it currently transmits over 2G GSM networks, according to Vodafone.

During the Future of Wireless International Conference on Monday, Vodafone presented a session on “Making LTE fit for the Internet of Things (IoT)”, where it examined the technical and economic challenges that remain as M2M applications start to mature.

The benefits of white space technology fuelled some debate amongst attendees at the Future of Wireless International Conference 2013 on Monday, who gathered to discuss the Internet of Things and Machine-to-Machine technology.

Qualcomm caused something of a stir by taking a sceptical view of white space, which shocked many of the attendees, particularly as Cambridge has been the heart of the UK’s white space trial since 2012.

T-Mobile Netherlands has selected transaction management software vendor Openet to provide its charging platform for mobile services.

Openet’s “Evolved Charging” solution promises a flexible catalogue of mobile services, enabling operators to quickly define and launch dynamic pricing models, innovative device plans and support comprehensive combinations of services for its pre-paid and post-paid subscribers.

Global SIM unit shipments have increased by six percent over the last year as the overall value of the SIM market has risen.

According to trade body the SIMalliance, its members’ shipment volumes rose from 4.4 billion in 2011 to 4.6 billion in 2012.

Networking leader Cisco has predicted a 13-fold increase in mobile Internet traffic over the next four years in its annual Visual Networking Index (VNI) global mobile data traffic forecast due to an increased number of mobile devices and wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) connections.

Telia Sonera made the news this week with an announcement that it is deploying Ericsson's M2M platform.

Embedded wireless and module developer Option has released financial details that cast doubt on the future of the company. The company is facing a 72% drop in revenue as a key licensing deal expires at the end of October, and is cutting costs and trying to access cash to provide working capital while it hopes new product lines come to the rescue.

Only two M2M ecosystems are on the verge of a market "breakthrough", according to Arthur D Little Associate Director Ansgar Schlautmann.

All the rest are still in a "trial and error" stage, due to combination of underdeveloped ecosystems,  a lack of tangible user benefits, and there being no dominating players.

Turkcell ups M2M forecast

The Turkish government has enacted law to exempt M2M SIMs from a tax levied on any new SIM subscription.

Currently, Turkish mobile customers pay TRY37 (€16.7) as a fixed tax on a new SIM connection, but businesses and service providers installing M2M SIMs will now be exempted from the levy.

Turkcell, which recently announced the launch of an M2M platform, said that the change would speed up M2M market growth.

Telefonica Digital wants to grow revenues 20% year on year to become a €5 billion business by 2015, and has detailed how much it expects each of its product areas to generate.

CEO Matthew Key said that the unit turned over €2.4 billion in 2011 – representing 20% growth on the like-for-like basis on the operating activities of Telefonica Group over the previous year. (Telefonica Digital was only formed as a separate operating unit nine months ago)

Sierra Wireless is to acquire Sagemcom’s machine-to-machine (M2M) business for €44.9 million in cash plus assumed liabilities.

Sagemcom's M2M business includes 2G and 3G wireless modules, as well as rugged terminals for GSM-Railway (GSM-R) applications. Sierra Wireless said Sagemcom offers it a significantly enhanced market position in key segments, including payment, transportation, and railways, as well as new geographical expansion into Brazil.

“Combining Sagemcom’s M2M business with Sierra Wireless is a unique opportunity for us to enter new markets and bolster our leadership in wireless M2M communications,” said Jason Cohenour, President and CEO of Sierra Wireless. “With a strong market position in key segments, a culture of innovation, and experienced teams based in Paris and Shenzhen, Sagemcom M2M is an ideal fit for Sierra Wireless.”

Sagemcom’s M2M business generated approximately €39.9 million in revenue and was solidly profitable during the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2011, a Sierra Wireless statement said.

The proposed acquisition remains subject to completion of the consultation process with employee representatives. This process is expected to commence immediately and, when complete, Sagemcom will be able to enter into a definitive agreement with Sierra Wireless. The companies expect this to occur in the third quarter.

Global Partnership for M2M connectivity

Everything Everywhere and Nokia Siemens Networks have announced a partnership that will see Everything Everywhere SIM cards installed in vending machines linked to Nokia Siemens Networks’ VendMe application.
 
This connectivity will allow vendors to monitor stock levels remotely and plan efficient replenishing of machines without the need to make site visits — offering environmental as well as efficiency and productivity benefits for fleet management teams.

Telefonica UK's use of Jasper Wireless' M2M platform will enable the operator to offer its customers more real time control of their services, Gilli Coston, Head of M2M at Telefónica UK, told Mobile Europe.

Coston said that the deploymenthad been described as the "holy grail" by one customer who had previously felt limited by the ability of O2's existing M2M service to scale quickly.

O2 has been running an M2M business in the UK for 15 years, Coston said, but the decision to use Jasper's platform had added to is ability to support its customers. "We had some good capabilities but we wanted to give our customers the ability to access self-service in real time to troubleshoot issues and problems straight away. Our customers have gone from monthly billing to being able to see on a per-second and daily basis what's really happening on the network. This enables customers to have visibility, control and management of the day to day business, rather than having to rely heavily on external customer services and environments," Costan said.

Tests one smart meter, predicts other M2M applications will follow

Neul, a provider of white space networking equipment, has deployed a city-wide network to support trials and live tests of whitespace technology and applications in Cambridge, UK. The company said the network is the world's first city-wide white space network.

The network is using five base stations to cover Cambridge, and one base station in a "rural community" south of Cambridge. Neul is also operating an Operational and Management Centre, and providing support for multiple geo-location databases that keep track of the frequency use of TV transmissions and wireless microphone frequency usage.

Sierra Wireless was the top revenue earner from sales of M2M cellular embedded module vendors in 2011, according to ABI Research. Cinterion came second, and Telit third. The top three vendors by module unit shipment volume in 2011 were Cinterion, Telit, and Sierra Wireless.

ABI Research’s market share rankings of M2M cellular embedded module vendors for 2011 evaluates vendors’ market share performance for both total unit shipment volume of M2M cellular modules, as well as for total M2M revenue, including modules, terminals, software, and services.  



Cinterion has been the unit shipment volume market share leader since ABI Research started tracking cellular M2M module sales in 2003. With the acquisition of Cinterion by Gemalto in 2010, the company is hoping to leverage Gemalto’s resources and complementary offerings (i.e. SIMs) to build a more comprehensive and differentiated offer in the market.  



Sam Lucero, practice director, M2M connectivity, states, “The biggest change from 2010 to 2011 was the rise of Telit from third place to second place in the unit shipment volume analysis. Likewise, Telit Communications displaced SIMcom Wireless Solutions at third place in the M2M revenue rankings.”

ABI Research’s “M2M Embedded Module Vendor Market Share Market Data,” presents cellular M2M embedded module vendor market share data for 2011. 

It is part of ABI Research’s M2M Research Service. 

Sierra Wireless was one of the first vendors to push beyond modules to the supply of a software platform – its AirVantage hybrid connected device platform/application enablement platform (CDP/AEP).  Moving away from a pure module strategy has benefited Sierra Wireless financially in the face of increasing price pressure, as is the company’s strong focus on higher-value automotive module products.



Telit Communications has been the fastest growing of the major vendors for several years now, rising from roughly 6% market share in 2007 to more than 20% market share (on a unit shipment volume calculation) in 2011.

The main companies active in the cellular M2M module market include: Cinterion, Huawei, iWOW, Neoway, Novatel Wireless, Quectel, Sagemcom, Sierra Wireless, SIMcom Wireless Solutions, Telit Communications, u-blox, and ZTE. 



Telefonica and Avea have formed an M2M collaboration agreement that will see them jointly develop and offer services to provide M2M roaming across their markets. The partnership will cover the provision of global M2M solutions, international roaming agreements between the two operators, and the joint development of technological standards.

Both operators said they would like to see other partners join the partnership to spread coverage.

Turkcell has joined the likes of Deutsche Telekom and Telia Sonera by forming a machine to machine (M2M) "platform", uniting all the M2M solutions provided to its corporate customers under an M2M Umbrella. The operator said it currently has 750,000 Tukcells SIMs on the M2M platform, but added there are "potentially" 150 million devices that could be connected to its platform in Turkey.

If it did achieve that level of penetration, Turkcell claimed it would enable considerable benefits not just for itself, but for the Turkish economy as a whole. The operator said that its M2M solutions contributed TRY318 million to the Turkish economy through savings in 2011, an amount the operator plans to double 2012 through the depolyment of its M2M services on a platform basis.