T-Mobile to outsource M2M to partner Raco

In an effort to become more nimble in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, T-Mobile (NYSE:DT) is handing off the provisioning and management of all of its new M2M connections to one of its telematics aggregators, Raco Wireless.

While T-Mobile is effectively outsourcing its new M2M business to Raco, not much will actually change in how T-Mobile attacks the growing connected data device market. Raco will become T-Mobile’s preferred vendor for bringing in future M2M business, but the operator will continue to support its other aggregator and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partners. What’s more, the majority of T-Mobile’s M2M unit employees will move over to Raco, starting with the head honcho M2M national director John Horn who will assume the role of Raco president.

The big difference, Horn said, will be in how much more quickly Raco will be able to recruit new customers and provision their device connections now that enterprises and vertical industries can deal with a single entity rather than two, Horn said.

“Every time a new solution came around it would take months to bring that new solution to market,” Horn said. “We’ll be able to take that process of on-boarding down from weeks and months to days and hours.” Half of T-Mobile’s M2M staff will move over to Raco immediately, but as more of T-Mobile’s growing telematics business moves under the Raco umbrella, the rest of the staff will follow. “We will in essence become the front end of T-Mobile’s M2M operations,” he said.

Raco’s key platform is it Omega Management Suite, which activates, maintains and monitors SIM cards tied to M2M modules, implementing customizable usage-based billing models that account for the unique way M2M apps utilize the data network. OMS provides the customer-facing billing and usage reports and acts as the primary notification source for overage alerts.

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