The “Internet of things” is one of the most exciting emerging trends although a lot remains to be done to realize its potential. Steve Hilton, lead analyst for Analysys Mason’s enterprise and SME strategies research programs, is betting that carriers will embrace the Internet of things to expand the range of their offerings. They have a lot to gain, Hilton told RCR Wireless News.
Although not yet at the stage that several companies and analysts have predicted, the Internet of Things is set to drive a huge transformation in different industries, and it represents potential opportunities for the IT and telecommunications sectors.
Indeed, telecom operators have already started to embrace machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions. At last month’s Mobile World Congress event, Raco Wireless announced it has expanded its presence in the M2M space, announcing carrier contracts with Telefónica and Sprint Nextel. The deals include the integration of Raco’s Omega Management Suite, allowing customers to manage their M2M services.
Telefónica has also stepped further into M2M to help utilities meet monitoring and supervision challenges. Telefónica has developed an integrated solution, called the Connected Metering Platform, that allows both communications and utility operators to enhance smart metering deployments by integrating M2M communications and metering infrastructure management.
In Brazil, Jasper Wireless announced an agreement with Claro to connect M2M and consumer electronic devices wirelessly in the country. Under the agreement, Jasper Wireless will provide Claro Brazil with global visibility of all SIMs connected to the mobile network and self-service tools for provisioning, real-time diagnostics and usage controls.
Smart cities could be the next stage in the Internet of things. In Germany, IBM and Deutsche Telekom, the carrier behind the T-Mobile brand, are working together on creating smart city systems. The deal allows IBM to plug its data-wrangling capabilities into Deutsche Telekom’s established global M2M ecosystem.
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To support the Internet of things’ transformation and realize its benefits, Hilton said important changes should be made in three areas:
- In the network layer — networks will become more intelligent, understanding more of the data that come into them.
- Value-added services — carriers should incorporate more value-added services around connectivity and offer service level agreements associated with M2M worlds.
- Data aggregation and analysis at the application layer — currently, business analytics are not being used very much. It is important to not only collect data but also understand it.
“The Internet of things requires changes at the network, application and analytics layers,” Hilton noted.
Liz Kerton, managing director at Kerton Group, pointed out in a recent Analyst Angle column, that the M2M sector started making waves in 2012 and is set to boom in 2013. “M2M is a sector that can be cut vertically or horizontally,” she wrote. “M2M is at the inflexion point for a number of reasons. In effect, it capitalizes on some of the other biggest trends in technology.”
What’s happening in the market:
- Software AG unveiled a native, in-memory platform for real-time insight and intelligent action on big data at this year’s Cebit. The platform is called Terracotta In-Genius and aims to allow organizations to discover hidden insights and act on them.
- NetApp announced the new NetApp(R) E5500, designed to provide industry-leading performance, efficiency and reliability for big data and high-performance computing (HPC).
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The telecom analytics series provides weekly insights on trends, new products and other topics that touch on the advantages and monetization opportunities of analytics tools for telecom operators, including big data, business intelligence, customer experience analysis and management, business analytics and network analytics.