Mobile Operators Reclaiming the Machine-to-Machine Connectivity Market, Says ABI Research

Business Wire, Oct 23, 2008

NEW YORK -- The M2M (machine-to-machine) connectivity market has always seemed to be the playground of specialists: mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and M2M mobile operators (MMOs). These aggregators, such as Jasper Wireless and Aeris Communications, have garnered most of the limelight in recent years.

But increasingly, mainstream mobile network operators (MNOs) are targeting the M2M market directly and publicly.

"Traditional mobile network operators are raising the visibility of M2M efforts that are already pretty robust," notes ABI Research senior analyst Sam Lucero. "Our informal calculation is that mobile network operators now own 85-90% of the M2M market, and we expect that share to grow, in the context of an overall expanding pie."

Why would MNOs push aggressively into a market that is relatively small and noted for generally modest average revenue per user? The reason, says Lucero, is that, "The core voice/data market is becoming saturated and the operators are looking for new areas that show high growth and, if accessed correctly, can return fairly high margins."

Some MNOs have long offered specialized M2M services. Verizon's partnership with GM's OnStar delivered it the largest single block of M2M connections in North America. Orange and Telefonica in Europe, and NTT DOCOMO in Japan have been active in the field, but now more operators such as AT&T and Vodafone are entering the market directly, developing platforms more specifically geared to the particular needs of M2M. They've already got the infrastructure; if they can automate their provisioning, activation, and management processes, and orient their customer acquisition and support processes to meet the economics of M2M, the rewards can be quite substantial.

Lucero adds, "M2M is just one part of the MNOs' push into new markets. They're also quite publicly saying that they want to have connections into a range of consumer electronics devices."

A new report, "Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Connectivity Services," (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/RR/COPS) discusses this important development, as well as analyzing overall market trends, describing the competitive landscape, and providing highly granular cellular M2M connectivity services forecasts segmented by region, application, and air interface standard.

It forms part of the firm's M2M Research Service (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/M2M_Research_Service).

ABI Research is a leading market research firm focused on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets. Utilizing a unique blend of market intelligence, primary research, and expert assessment from its worldwide team of industry analysts, ABI Research assists hundreds of clients each year with their strategic growth initiatives. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com, or call 1.516.624.2500.