New and overlapping industry groups are emerging to help promote and simplify the nascent machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless communications industry.
Key industry figures such as Alex Brisbourne, Kore Telematics president, and Marcus Torchia, Yankee Group analyst, along with leaders of companies such as Qualcomm and Wavecom are supporting a call for the formation of a group within the CTIA’s Wireless Internet Caucus. A working group existed there from 2005 to 2007, but it lacked focus, leading to an independent effort that also did not catch on, said Peter Stone, general counsel of Aeris Communications earlier this year.
Now, Steven Brumer, Wireless Rain consultant, is leading the efforts for a CTIA group, based on a decision reached among several industry companies at the CTIA’s recent convention in San Francisco. The group would promote certifications, education, joint business development and marketing, he said.
Brumer said he’s hopeful for a positive vote at the CTIA’s December board meeting. If the vote is no, then interested parties will try once more to establish an independent organization, he said.
Brumer acknowledged that the M2M industry at large wants to avoid giving too much influence to wireless carriers, but that working within the CTIA would show how vital the carriers are to M2M’s growth – as are end users, so the group would also include resources such as a blog, white papers and an implementation program, he added.
CTIA Vice President Mark Desautels, who is responsible for the Wireless Internet Caucus, could not be reached for comment.
Separately, a new group called the IPSO Alliance has support from companies such as Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Freescale Semiconductor, SAP and Sun Microsystems. The approach of IPSO is that all machine communications should be done over traditional TCP/IP protocols. But will networking companies and M2M specialists be on the same page? “That’s partly what we’re trying to address,” said Chairman Geoff Mulligan. “The market may not be quite right for them to jump into this space… I probably need to go and talk to them,” he said.
IPSO is already in discussions with unspecified major wireless carriers. “They’re extremely excited about the possibilities of having hundreds of millions of devices that may use their networks,” he said, adding that Tier 1 carrier participation also would help push the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
Even cell phones per se could include IP-based wireless sensors for receiving alerts, not just from software but from machines such as smoke alarms and factory equipment. That could lead to new kinds of business applications, Mulligan said. “There’s a whole cool set of opportunities here to bridge between the sensors and the cellular network. We could leverage the fact that the phone already talks IP,” he explained.
At least one industry analyst, ABI Research’s Sam Lucero, expressed skepticism that either of the new industry groups will be very useful. “I don’t think it’s very important actually. These folks all know each other, they’re all congregating at industry events. I just don’t see either a need or a real interest to cobble together an alliance to try to move forward with that.”
