The many machines of M2M

Carriers have found new religion in the form of machine-to-machine communications. What were once a few niche vertical markets are now becoming an exploding industry that seeks to connect almost any manner of device to the wireless WAN.

This time last year, my discussions with M2M developers, device- and module-makers primarily revolved around the M2M standbys of fleet tracking and security applications, perhaps with the occasional reference to some telemedicine or supply chain scenario planned for the far off future. On the consumer side, there was, of course, Amazon’s Kindle, but little else. But in recent months, the scope of my interviews on M2M has ballooned.

Some of those discussions we’ve already shared with you in an online piece here or there. The County of Los Angeles controlling its traffic lights remotely through broadband wireless connections is one example, and my colleagues Sarah Reedy, Ed Gubbins and Carol Wilson have written about the impact of M2M technologies on smart utility grids, video surveillance and telemedicine, respectively. The market is exploring far beyond the boundaries of those verticals, though. In recent weeks, I’ve been briefed by ClimateMinder and T-Mobile about connected green houses, which growers can remotely monitor and control, and wirelessly connected industrial agricultural equipment that can sample soil, send data out wirelessly for analysis, receive that analysis and make adjustments to the fertilizer levels on the spot — all almost instantaneously.

Considering the new explosion in M2M applications, operators can’t be accused of ignoring the opportunities set in front of them. While many of them have had M2M operations for years, they’ve expanded those efforts of late in an attempt to capture more of what could be a huge new market — and they’ve been more vocal about those efforts. This summer AT&T launched a new management platform with Jasper Wireless to handle new embedded consumer and business devices. Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm took an even bigger step by forming a joint venture, which allows them to combine their network access, technology and systems integration roles into a single entity.

In the first part of a special series for Connected Planet and TelephonyOnline on M2M, I’ve explored the role of the operator in this new and potentially vast market. Operators are no longer content to work with resellers. In their new roles as M2M service providers, they’re front-and-center, facing the customer. On Wednesday, Part 2 of the series will specifically focus on M2M’s effect on one particular industry. The industry itself might surprise you: insurance. But Progressive and insurers around the world have found ways to use M2M to create a real-time network that links rates to how you drive, not to how millions of other people in your same demographic group and city drive.

E-mail me at kevin.fitchard@penton.com.