Strong growth in number of M2M connections
Leading analysts predict strong growth for M2M connections. Some predict wireless M2M connections will reach 294.1M in 2015. This would mean they represent 4% of total cellular connections worldwide. Furthermore, the number of M2M connections may rise to 2.1 bn in 2020. Taking these impressive figures into account, operators face major challenges in sales, marketing and converging OSS/BSS for M2M services.
Automation and large scale are key for profitable business
Operators need to automate device support for customers in markets like smart grids, energy, transportation telematics or healthcare. This is the only way to reduce provisioning as well as customer support costs and enable profitable M2M business. While monthly revenues for dedicated transportation telematics services are not that low, especially areas with highest growth rates like smart metering generate extremely low ARPUs. Real-time capabilities are the common basis to promote profitable M2M business. For the utility market, an easy integration into existing meter data management and utility CIS systems based on standard interfaces needs to be ensured.