M2M: the sleeper awakes

Announcements from Jasper Wireless, KPN, Ericsson and Qualcomm all point to a revival of interest in wireless M2M on the part of both vendors and operators. During 2009 there have been several announcements in the machine-to-machine (M2M) space. Ericsson announced a mobile broadband module specifically for consumer electronics applications; Qualcomm and Verizon established an M2M joint venture as a separate company; and KPN announced new partnership arrangements with M2M platform provider Jasper Wireless, which nicely followed Jasper's deal with AT&T in May.

According to Ovum, there are clear signs that this renewed interest is driving the emergence of new business models for M2M. Previously, MNOs have worried that M2M subscriptions, which are typically low traffic and low revenue, risked diluting ARPU and thus impacting on the financial sector's view of them. Although M2M barely shows up in operators' KPIs at the moment, it has the potential to have a very large impact - particularly if some of the more bullish forecasts are realised. Article