M2M Applications Dominating Verizon Wireless's Open-Access Network

Apparently, the soul of the new machine is mechanical.

This Unstrung piece says that machine-to-machine (M2M) projects account for 90 percent of the initiatives in the pipeline for certification in Verizon Wireless' open-access network. The piece rightly calls these projects -- which can include sensors, tracking devices and temperature monitors -- as "distinctly non-sexy."

Sexy or not, there is great demand for this kind of connectivity. The limiting factor, the story implies, was cost. The open-access rules not only offer an economical approach, but allow customers to begin using the network within about a month, the story says.

There is a lot of movement in this sector, perhaps because of the emergence of open-access networks. Trackn/Enfotrace, which provides remote vehicle- and asset-tracking products, agreed earlier this month to include Telit Communications' M2M cellular technology in its location-based service applications beginning next month. The Telit technology will provide two-way flow of information through a digital cellular network. Information such as safety alerts, vehicle diagnostics, door-lock control and messaging will flow over this connection, according to the story.

Last week, KORE Telematics, which calls itself the largest digital wireless-service provider with a focus on M2M, upgraded its GSM network service. The release says that KORE GSM now offers voice for both one-way and two-way origination for on-demand use, secure fixed IP and dedicated Access Point Name (APN) services. The features are available as optional upgrades for existing KORE customers.

In another news item from last week, Sympac, a mobile-service provider that serves Europe, launched a M2M for multinational corporations. The service is aimed at 55 counties in Europe and the Americas. The network features an auto-provisioning process and free instant connectivity, the release says.

M2M is potent. Raj Saksena, the CEO of Omnitrol, describes an award-winning M2M technology the company deployed for fighter aircraft builder Endway Defense Systems in this Q & A. The technology involves increasing the automation of the communication between radio-frequency identification (RFID) scanners and readers. The article illustrates how deeply ingrained M2M technology is to industrial processes and its great potential for increasing efficiencies.

M2M communications employs many terms and concepts that are unfamiliar to those accustomed to networks in which a human is on at least one end of the connection. M2M offers huge potential savings and significant new efficiencies in the way things are done.  That machines dominate Verizon Wireless's open network clearly is significant.