Vodafone teams with Cyan to develop M2M services in India

Vodafone has taken a further step in the development of its machine-to-machine (M2M) activities by teaming up with UK-based Cyan Holdings to address the smart metering market in India.

Cyan, which describes itself as an integrated system and software design company delivering mesh-based flexible wireless solutions for utility metering and lighting control, said it has signed a teaming agreement with Vodafone Group's M2M team and will work with the operator on creating joint propositions, developing opportunities and submitting proposals to customers in the smart metering field.

While the current agreement relates only to the Indian market, Cyan said it hopes to make further announcements with Vodafone in due course.

The goal is to develop a managed service portfolio based on Cyan's technology and Vodafone's network for "high volume/low-value last mile" data communications to utility end customers. Vodafone's M2M Global Data Services Platform and managed hosting will provide secure data communication and storage beyond the networked devices.

"Our focus is to supply smart metering solutions to enable utilities to reduce transmission and distribution losses and protect revenue. Therefore, we are very pleased to announce this partnership and that our CyLec platform will be installed in Vodafone's Customer Experience Centre in Mumbai to demonstrate its capability in providing metering solutions," said John Cronin, executive chairman at Cyan.

For Vodafone, the move comes hot on the heels of its announcement last week that it plans to buy telematics and security specialist Cobra Automotive Technologies through a voluntary offer that values the Italy-based company at around €145 million ($197 million).

Like many operators, Vodafone is seeking new opportunities in the M2M field and has highlighted connected cars and smart metering as major areas of focus.

The operator was recently named as the world's number one operator for M2M by Machina Research, which specialises in areas such as M2M and mobile broadband connectivity.

According to a report by GlobalData in October last year, an increase in smart meter deployments will see the global market for wireless communication modules approximately double in value over the coming years, jumping from $532 million (€392 million) in 2012 to $1.3 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 12 per cent.

For more:
- see this release from Cyan Holdings

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