SIM cards in 750 million new devices
M2M is getting more main stream exposure –
Rob Conway, chairman of the GSM Association, challenged technology manufacturers in February to integrate in some capacity mobile broadband in to all their products by 2014.
He was addressing the Mobile World Congress, and referring to products such as cameras, printers, memory cards, printers and vehicles, among a multitude of other items. The opportunity, he said, is to embed SIM cards in 750 million new devices.
“We have only just begun the mobile broadband journey,” said Conway. “The embedded mobile broadband market can grow as chip prices go down and new usages are developed.”
Machine to machine communications, or M2M as it is known, is in its simplest form the integration of mobile SIM cards and a data modems in products to read and relay information via GPRS.
It is already a significant market; and represents the first roots of Conway’s vision.
The best-known example of M2M communication in the consumer space is probably the deployment of Vodafone SIM cards in TomTom’s satellite navigation systems, enabling transfer of up-to-date traffic information and relevant local information to users.
Posted on 5th May 2009
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