Chipset costs, consumer push to revive the market
Falling chipset costs encouraged Sprint to push more aggressively into the wireless M2M application market, jumping on the chance to use its existing assets to develop new services, Bowman said. The savings meant Sprint could also price out competitors using expensive satellite GPS for their M2M services.
"A lot of these tracking types of [services] don't use a lot of bandwidth - at all. All [it is] doing is tracking you … and uploading information once in a while. I don't need it real time. It could be batched," Bowman said. "Video is what drives tremendous traffic usage … and frankly, that's part of why we're launching 4G so fast -- because we believe that the market is really underserved."
Mobile operators have "a tremendous growth opportunity" with wireless M2M applications, according to Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, addressing the issue in his keynote. Late last year, AT&T signed a deal with Amazon to provide the network for its Kindle e-book readers, a lucrative arrangement that was previously enjoyed by Sprint.
"Every emerging device category shows tremendous potential," de la Vega said. "In the fourth quarter of last year, the US led the world in e-book downloads with 34% of the world's downloads. On the business side, the potential is even more jaw-dropping."
Wireless M2M applications and embedded mobile in nontraditional devices could reap $1 billion annually for AT&T once the market is fully revived, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Juniper Research estimates that revenues will rise to $19 billion globally by 2014.
Elbowing its way into the healthcare market, AT&T announced at CTIA that its cellular network will carry data traffic from Vitality Inc., which markets internet-connected pill bottle caps, GlowCaps.
The cap alerts patients who have missed a medication dose with light, then sound, according to AT&T. If the lapse continues, the wireless M2M application places a phone call or sends a text message to the patient with a reminder. It eventually learns and favors the alert that is most effective. The device can also automatically refill a prescription and email progress reports to patients, doctors and caregivers.
Other services running consumer and commercial wireless M2M applications on AT&T's 3G network include a tablet computer that consumers can use to remotely set a thermostat or home security system and a tracking system that monitors location and condition for pallets and dog collars, alerting owners via SMS when cargo or canines wander outside a virtual "geo-fence."
"You can only sell so much voice service," said Weldon of Current Analysis. "It's not clear to me which [M2M customer base] is the bigger opportunity, but it's clear [the consumer market] is the sexier one."
This article originally appeared on SearchTelecom.com