The Spanish telecom group Telefónica announced that it has integrated its machine-to-machine (M2M) services for smart cities into a global solution. The company said the new offering will create an open ecosystem which will enable town councils, urban service providers and entrepreneurs to integrate all the technology required by this type of service in a single solution.
The global release follows an announcement by Vivo, Telefónica’s Brazilian unit about its machine-to-machine strategy for the local market, where it aims to double accesses from 1 million to 2 million by the end of next year.
As part of Telefónica’s services for smart cities, the company also released two cooperation agreements, one with Streetline, a specialist in smart parking end-to-end solutions, and another with Libelium, a developer of M2M smart city sensors.
Under the terms of the Streetline agreement, Telefónica will provide M2M capabilities, financial services, sales network and customer support, while Streetline will provide smart parking services, applications and technical support. Streetline will be Telefónica’s primary smart parking partner.
The agreement with Libelium enables Telefónica to add the developer’s wireless sensors to its portfolio. This will allow integrators to create M2M applications based on real-time information flows quickly and at a low cost.
Telefónica said all M2M solutions will allow the creation of an open ecosystem which will generate new business models, helping entrepreneurs to develop their own applications. The company also noted that the addition will enable cities to improve management and optimize the services to citizens.
Currently, Telefónica’s portfolio has 27 different applications, including traffic management, smart parking, and environmental and agricultural monitoring.