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M2M's Magnificent Seven

July 10, 2012 | Michelle Donegan |

Seven mobile operators have formed a global alliance that aims to improve the delivery of machine-to-machine (M2M) services to multinational business customers.

The alliance members -- let's call them the M2M Magnificent Seven -- are KPN Telecom NV, NTT Docomo Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel), Telefónica SA (through its Telefonica Digital unit), Telstra Corp. Ltd. and VimpelCom Ltd..

The goal of the initiative is to simplify and reduce the costs of international M2M services by introducing a single SIM that would eliminate international roaming charges in the countries of the participating operators.

The SIM status and M2M device performance will be centrally managed from a Web interface using Jasper Wireless Inc.'s Control Center.

The group is not exclusive and is open for other operators to join.

Why this matters
The formation of alliance shows how operators will need to work together in order to maximize the potential, and reduce the complexity, of connected device services, which is enormous. According to Machina Research, M2M revenues will grow to €714 billion (US$880 billion) by 2020.

Another forecast, this one from Analysys Mason, shows that M2M device connections will reach 2.1 billion by 2021.

Any effort to reduce the complexity and costs associated with M2M services is to be applauded, but this alliance needs more members -- the founding operators don't cover some of the world's most significant markets, such as China, India and the U.S.

For more

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile


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