Movement in M2M

Machine-to-machine communications represents one of the trio of trends that is driving intense investment by CSPs. And, not surprisingly, last month’s M2M news didn’t disappoint.

Verizon and Lowe’s teamed up on a connected home solution that doesn’t require a massive rebuild. Downtown vintage lofts and older homes can be easily equipped with futuristic monitoring and management products usually associated with newer homes. The home improvement retailer’s Iris smart-home solution will now be able to use Verizon’s world-class wireless network for remote monitoring and management of customers’ homes; Iris allows homeowners to monitor and control their homes from anywhere via a smartphone or tablet. The new Verizon wireless connection (available through a USB modem) will connect to the Iris Smart Hub, eliminating the need for homeowners to have a wired broadband connection.

Swisscom has brought M2M into the realm of personal safety and security with Limmex Emergency Watch. By leveraging an integrated machine-to-machine SIM card, the Emergency Watch can immediately set up a phone call to a person designated by the customer, or to a professional emergency call center.

The biggest news in M2M, though, comes from Sprint, which leaned on its long history of telematics experience and made a huge push into the connected-car market. In mid-November Sprint partnered with Audiovox on a low-cost device that turns any car into a connected car. Then at the end of the month Sprint announced Velocity, a connected-car platform that can be used by auto manufacturers as either a turnkey or a modular solution.

“Sprint Velocity enables auto manufacturers to customize the variety of connected features inside the vehicle through the simplicity of a single point of mobile integration and enablement,” said Wayne Ward, vice president of Emerging Solutions at Sprint. “Auto makers simply collaborate with Sprint on the specific features they desire for their vehicles, and Sprint will handle the rest. We believe Sprint Velocity is the most technologically advanced and most comprehensive connected-services platform for auto manufacturers wherever they’re located around the globe.”

The first major customer win was Chrysler, which will use Velocity as the platform for its Uconnect Access systems. Marios Zenios, head of Uconnect Systems and Services for Chrysler Group LLC, explained why Sprint was selected. “Key factors in our decision to choose Sprint included Sprint’s best-in-class end-to-end telematics platform, secure and reliable network, unparalleled relationships within the telematics and broad machine-to-machine (M2M) ecosystem, and nimble consumer-market experience, including a deep understanding of how customers experience and interact with wireless-based applications both in and out of the vehicle.”

Verizon predicts trends

Big Red offered its take on top trends, listing hybrid clouds, M2M, the proliferation of mobility, smart networks, and security as the top drivers for change in 2013. Interestingly, Verizon’s forecast called security the “new arms race” and predicted that two-factor authentication “won’t be enough to counteract the increasing amount and intensity of criminal activity pursuing both intellectual property and financial gain.”