Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific are tipped to be the fastest growing regions for machine to machine (M2M) connections over the next four years.
Research firm Ovum states the two markets will top global M2M connection growth charts between 2012 and 2018 – a period in which total connections will grow at a CAGR of 22.6% to reach 360.9 million in 2018. Ovum predicts total revenues will hit $44.8 billion (€32.9 billion) in 2018, with healthcare, manufacturing, and energy and utilities the leading industry verticals.
However, the firm cautions that operators will struggle to reap the benefit of growing M2M connections without strategic partnerships.
Jeremy Green, principal analyst at Ovum’s Industry Communications and Broadband sector, says carriers have two options. “[T]o stand back and provide the connectivity for M2M services, or to roll up their sleeves and get involved with the end-to-end provision of solutions.”
The firm notes the latter option offers better opportunities for operators, but requires new skills, relationships with systems integrators (SIs), and software development.
“If a carrier sees itself as an end-to-end provider, its partnering relations are even more critical, because it is unlikely to be heard at the CxO level within an enterprise client unless it is working with a global SI.” explains Green.