Cellular machine-to-machine connections will rise from around 107 million in 2011 to 326 million by 2016, according to a new report from IMS Research. The research firms claims that initiatives such as Europe's eCall, together with the desire by firms looking to improve efficiency and develop new revenue models are among the factors that will drive this rapid increase. Mobile operators have become key to this upsurge, according to Sam Lucero, an analyst with IMS. "Mobile operators are not simply providing managed connectivity services to the cellular M2M market but increasingly are 'connecting the dots' among M2M ecosystem players, including suppliers and developers--and this benefits the market as a whole," he said in a statement. "Examples of this proactive role by mobile operators range from establishing module supply programs to developing partnerships with platform vendors and solution suppliers to reduce overall complexity in the value chain." Release
