Wyless, Iridium Join global trade group the International M2M Council

Iridium Communications, Inc. and Wyless Inc. have joined the International M2M Council (IMC), a global organisation that promotes the benefits of machine-to-machine communications (M2M).
The IMC announced that both companies have become sustaining members of the London-based association, which was formed earlier this year by a group of influential solutions providers in the M2M industry.
Iridium, a global satellite services provider, and Wyless, an M2M/IoT managed services provider, are expected to contribute an expanded breadth of expertise to the IMC’s first major initiative: the development of a library of M2M content, including in-depth user case-studies that will inform businesses about the benefits of M2M technology in various vertical markets.
Sometimes called the “Internet of Things,” M2M refers to applications in which computers and sensors exchange data with each other to monitor and control remote machines. The IMC will cover broad areas of new, life-enriching connectivity applications in areas such as connected cars, mobile healthcare, home security, smart grid, and mobile supply-chain.
Iridium specializes in providing satellite communications between machines to industries where objects can be hard to reach, such as vehicle tracking, heavy equipment, energy, maritime, and aviation. Says David Wigglesworth, the company’s VP of Data Services:
“Iridium sees great value in joining together with other industry leaders to increase awareness of the business case for M2M. We’ve only scratched the surface of the economic benefits M2M can provide.”
Dan McDuffie, CEO of Wyless, agrees:
“One of the things we appreciate most about the IMC is that it is prepared to carry its message globally. Many of our partners require solutions with a multinational footprint, and our industry group needs to reflect that.”
Wyless currently delivers M2M managed cellular service through 19 major telcos on every continent, and recently acquired TM Data of Brazil, a fellow MVNO.
Other sustaining members of the IMC are AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Digi International, Kore Telematics, Oracle Corporation, ORBCOMM and Telit Wireless Solutions. More companies are expected to join the IMC in the coming weeks.

About International M2M Council
The IMC was formed in May 2013 to foster widespread M2M adoption across a diverse range of industrial and consumer sectors by bringing together solution providers and users of M2M technology globally. For more information, visit www.im2mc.org.
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Tele2 AB: Jasper Wireless to provide M2M/IoT platform

Tele2 AB (Tele2), today announced a partnership with Jasper Wireless, which will provide Tele2 with its platform for machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT).
Tele2 has made investments in personnel and IT to become a competitive player in the global M2M/IoT market. The partnership with Jasper Wireless will enable Tele2 to offer Jasper’s cloud-based platform to its customers and partners. The platform, which can be applied to any vertical industry, provides global visibility of all SIMs connected to the mobile network and robust self-service tools for provisioning, real-time diagnostics and usage control.
Rami Avidan, Head of Tele2 M2M Global Solutions, comments:
“The Jasper Wireless platform will provide our M2M/IoT customers with a highly flexible and powerful platform to manage connected devices.”
“The platform is easy to use and will support Tele2 in delivering a simple and customer oriented M2M/IoT solution.”
Jasper Wireless delivers an industry-leading platform that enables customers and partners to automate operational processes. The platform is already operational and currently being rolled out in a number of customer projects.
Anders Olsson, Executive Vice President and CCO of Tele2 AB, comments:
“Our M2M/IoT solutions will help our customers and partners to reduce costs, identify new revenue streams and contribute to a more sustainable society. Our partnership with Jasper Wireless puts Tele2 in the right position to challenge other players in the global M2M/IoT market.”
For more information about Tele2 M2M Global Solutions, visit: m2m.tele2.com
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SkyWave and MCN Expand Satellite Communications Applications for Land and Sea

Alliance makes IsatData Pro available in China for Maritime, SCADA and Vehicle Management System applications.
SkyWave Mobile Communications (SkyWave), a global provider of wireless data communications for the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market, today announced that IsatData Pro satellite service is now available in China through an alliance with Beijing Marine Communication and Navigation Company (MCN). With offices throughout China, MCN will distribute IsatData Pro for applications that require dependable communication for tracking, monitoring and remote management of fixed and mobile assets.
Mr. Yinlin, Vice President of MCN, said:
“There is a growing need from our customers to integrate the right tools for total visibility, no matter the terrain.”
“We have seen strong demand in the market for the monitoring of vessels, fuel, environment and offshore oil rigs, to name a few. We look forward to forging ahead with SkyWave to distribute IsatData Pro satellite services throughout the country.”
An operator of the Beijing Land Earth Stations (LES) in the Inmarsat satellite communications system, MCN has been an Inmarsat Distribution Partner for the past 20 years, providing a wide range of communication and navigation services including satellite communication services for maritime and fisheries, energy, construction and transportation market applications. IsatData Pro is a jointly developed service that teams SkyWave’s range of terminals with Inmarsat’s global L-band satellite network to offer the highest payload and lowest latency of any L-band satellite store-and-forward service.
SkyWave’s IsatData Pro service and products meet the increasing demand for more data in M2M applications and allows businesses to share information across diverse operations. The wide range of enhanced M2M applications include SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) communications for systems that monitor gas pipelines and oil wells, as well as communications to and from telemetry and tracking devices for transport fleet management systems.
“SkyWave is committed to supporting our partners and customers in China,” said Dan Poirier, SkyWave Senior Vice President, Operations.
“The receipt of hardware approvals for IsatData Pro opens a number of new customer and application opportunities for both MCN and SkyWave, particularly with service providers delivering solutions in China that are involved with transportation on land and sea.”
SkyWave currently has customers with solution deployments in over 75 countries throughout the world and continues to expand into new regions with the addition of new channels and solution providers.
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LTE set to disrupt the M2M market says Machina Research

Strategy Report : Advancing LTE migration heralds massive change in global M2M modules markets.
The LTE network migration initiatives in top M2M markets are creating a virtuous cycle of key changes in module design, pricing and the product design process for embedding connectivity in products and devices. New, lower priced LTE modules expected to reach the market in 2014 will begin to upset the balance of value in the modules industry and force enterprises to recalibrate their decision-making process when choosing WWAN modules for their M2M deployments.
The M2M modules industry is on the verge of dramatic shift as key markets continue to expand LTE network coverage and deployments, according to a new study, “Global M2M Modules Report: Advancing LTE migration heralds massive change in global M2M modules market” published today by Machina Research. To date, the demand for 4G connectivity within an M2M context has been restricted to a select few high bandwidth applications such as emergency response, security video and automobile entertainment. But evolving market dynamics in countries committed to the early adoption of LTE are creating a “perfect storm” of circumstances involving the decommissioning of 2G networks, rapidly expanding LTE network coverage, and large scale LTE deployments that are ushering in a new era of LTE-based M2M modules with improved module design and pricing.
Of the global 266.5 million wireless wide area network (WWAN) M2M connections in 2013, 99.5% was comprised of 2G and 3G connections. However, as the initial wave of LTE migration transforms the M2M markets in the US, Japan, South Korea, China and top European markets, the mix of WWAN module technologies will change dramatically in the next 3-5 years, as shown in the figure below.

This coming wave of LTE modules and connectivity is driving innovation in module design and forcing the migration of modules among existing M2M deployments in more advanced LTE markets. While the immediate impact of this process will be felt predominantly in early adopter markets, the migration dynamics in these markets serve as important case studies for all markets in the midst of LTE transitions.
Andy Castonguay, Principal Analyst at Machina Research and author of the new report stated:
“A key impact of this technology migration is being felt by companies that currently have large scale 2G M2M deployments or are looking to deploy new devices over the next few years. The combination of network decommissioning and evolving LTE module options presents a new challenge to product designers of connected devices and M2M solution providers.”
The migration to LTE will have major implications for how enterprises choose which technology to use in both their existing and future M2M initiatives. 
“For most M2M deployment decisions today,” Castonguay stated, “the primary issues are module and device costs in the context of what the specific application needs today and in the short term.”
The conventional product development analysis will need to evolve quickly to consider long-term availability of the network, total cost of ownership for the M2M integration and intended lifespan of that asset. As a result, for enterprises embedding connectivity in devices with useable lifespans of more than 2-3 years, they will need to evaluate their choice of module technology not only to meet the immediate needs of their specific application, but also to take into account the longevity of the host network, so as to avoid costly module replacement in the future.

A central element of research for this report involved extensive interviews with 20 modules manufacturers, mobile network operators, M2M service providers and M2M device manufacturers in order to assess current pricing trends for the 13 most common variants of M2M modules available in the global market.  As a result of heavy competition among global module makers and growing economies of scale, the pricing levels for WWAN modules has declined in recent years, making modules increasingly affordable for M2M projects and deployments.  The rapid shifts in LTE network coverage are also establishing a foundation for the deployment of LTE-only modules which are expected to have a substantial impact on LTE-module pricing. In addition to the introduction of LTE-only modules, manufacturers are exploring new module designs and product line formats to further lower the costs of 4G connectivity. The report identifies several key trends in module design that will contribute to continued improvement in both cost and performance that will help drive greater scale into the M2M module industry.
These, and numerous other elements of the WWAN M2M modules market, are addressed in the report. Click here for more details.
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Leading Wireless M2M Networking Solutions Provider Gears Up For Global Expansion

FreeWave Technologies selects key systems integrators and VARs in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Latin America, Eastern Europe and China to help organizations build out critical infrastructure projects in various vertical markets including oil and gas, electric power and water/wastewater.
FreeWave Technologies, the innovator in industrial-grade, secure M2M wireless networking solutions, today announced it is expanding its international footprint outside of North and Latin America by adding more than 20 value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Latin America, Eastern Europe and China. The initiative was kicked off on Nov. 18, 2013 with a week-long training session at FreeWave’s headquarters in Boulder with attendees hailing from 16 countries across these regions. FreeWave continues to make significant investments in its future through increased research and development, its newly expanded headquarters and now by taking its award-winning, secure M2M wireless networking solutions to countries where critical infrastructure development is a top priority. For information about FreeWave’s Channel Partner program, please visit: www.freewave.com/channelpartners.aspx
Ashish Sharma, CMO of FreeWave Technologies, said:
“FreeWave’s solutions are the perfect fit for these environments because reliable data transmission – that is both secure and proven – is a key requirement for organizations that develop critical infrastructures.”
“Our M2M wireless technology meets these needs better than any other solution available in the market today. Our mature technology is a great fit for developing nations to bridge the gap between the growing number of Ethernet data networks with point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, fixed and mobile meshed wireless radio networks.”
International reseller partners who have joined FreeWave’s global expansion program hail from countries such as:
China, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Australia, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Spain
Marlin Nelson, market manager of international sales, who oversees the international reseller program at FreeWave, says the timing for expansion couldn’t be better:
“We have the right group of dedicated people in place to take advantage of growing market demand for critical infrastructure creation in these developing countries. We have carefully laid out a plan that will help us immediately increase our global presence with regional sales and technical support available to assist customers who are currently building out their national infrastructure.”

FreeWave Technologies is a trusted provider of secure wireless communication and networking solutions and has served a variety of industrial markets and applications in North America for more than 20 years. As the world is increasingly connected by wireless technology, there is a necessity for expanding wireless Internet access and computing capabilities to better serve businesses and individuals, including the combination of Ethernet with reliable wireless networking and communications solutions. These new partnerships are especially timely, as FreeWave is developing solutions with advanced capabilities to provide its global customer base with the comprehensive wireless networking and communication platforms of the future. To learn more about FreeWave’s solutions, please visit: www.freewave.com/products.aspx
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u-blox launches precision timing module for cellular networks

LEA-M8F leverages GNSS satellites with other clock sources to ensure base stations stay in-synch.
Swiss-based u‑blox, a global leader in cellular and positioning modules and integrated circuits, announces the LEA-M8F precision timing GNSS module. The compact, surface-mount module generates a precise 30.72 MHz reference clock crucial for synchronizing industrial data and communication systems such as small, femto and macro-cell mobile networks. High accuracy is achieved by disciplining a local oscillator or other clock source with timing signals received from satellite-hosted atomic clocks.
To ensure satellite availability, LEA-M8F is able to acquire and track all 50+ GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou satellites. High sensitivity enables quick autonomous start-up even inside structures with limited sky-view.
“A reliable, compact and cost-effective precision reference clock is a crucial component used in many systems in the Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource sectors (CIKR),” said Thomas Nigg, Vice President of Product Marketing at u-blox,
“Our LEA-M8F GPS/GNSS satellite-disciplined timing module enables the proper operation of many mission-critical infrastructure systems including mobile and fixed-line communication networks, power generation and distribution systems, gas and chemical processing plants, banking, postal and goods distribution processes.”
Measuring only 17 x 22 mm, the LEA-M8F module includes a low-noise 30.72 MHz VCTCXO (voltage and temperature controlled oscillator), meeting the master reference requirements for LTE Small Cells while providing 100 parts-per-billion autonomous hold-over accuracy. The module is also suitable for TD-LTE, LTE-Advanced and other applications requiring extended hold-over times when integrated with small cell platforms.
External sources of synchronization are supported through time-pulse and frequency inputs and a message interface. This allows measurements from macro-sniff, Sync-E or packet timing to be combined with measurements from GNSS to extend the availability of accurate synchronization and in doing so maximize cellular service availability.
LEA-M8F can track signals from satellites from any two constellations simultaneously (e.g. GPS and GLONASS, GPS and BeiDou, GLONASS and BeiDou). Compatibility with multiple GNSS systems gives the LEA-M8F access to a large number of satellites, allowing synchronization even in urban or indoor areas with limited sky view. For stationary applications, once a location is known, accurate timing can be maintained based on the signal from just a single satellite.

For more information, download the u-blox whitepaper “GNSS Timing and the Rise of Small Cells”. Detailed information about the LEA-M8F and evaluation kit EVK-M8F can be found on the u-blox website. Samples of the LEA-M8F will be available in Q1 2014.
The LEA-M8F will be demonstrated at the Small Cells Americas exhibition in Dallas, Dec. 3-4, 2013 at u-blox stand number 3.
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Vodafone Qatar & Netcomm Wireless Announce Strategic Partnership to Bolster M2M in Qatar

NetComm Wireless Limited and Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C., today announced a strategic partnership to extend Vodafone Qatar’s fixed and mobile networks to devices and machines which are used to enable Smart City applications such as security systems, intelligent transport systems, smart metering and smart medical devices.
The new agreement follows from the success of NetComm Wireless’ existing partnership with Vodafone Global Enterprise for delivery of the Vodafone MachineLink 3G across Vodafone Global Enterprise’s markets. With Vodafone’s unrivaled global experience in connecting machines, businesses of all sizes across all industry and service sectors are set to benefit from the ability to remotely monitor and manage previously isolated assets from a central location in real-time using Vodafone Qatar.
Designed to seamlessly integrate with Vodafone’s network in Qatar and around the world and diverse applications, the Vodafone MachineLink 3G and NetComm Wireless’ broader portfolio of wireless M2M devices will allow Vodafone Qatar to expand into bringing end-to-end solutions to its customers in Qatar.
Vodafone is the world’s leader in Machine 2 Machine (M2M) with experience of deploying smart city solutions across the world. Vodafone Qatar is fully committed to support the Qatar National Vision 2030 and this partnership with NetComm Wireless will deliver the new technology required to drive the continued expansion of one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
“In the next 20 years, Qatar will have one of the smartest cities on earth and M2M technology will underpin the delivery of this successful outcome.”
“This new collaboration with NetComm Wireless underpins our strategy to enable Smart Cities in Qatar. Vodafone is investing now to bring our global expertise to Qatar and help to realize the 2030 Qatar National vision. NetComm Wireless’ unique understanding of business objectives and industry applications in the Middle East together with Vodafone Qatar being first to market with cutting edge M2M services will deliver countless benefits to our customers,” said Kyle Whitehill, CEO, Vodafone Qatar.
“Vodafone Qatar shares our commitment to innovation and we look forward to working together to transform business communications at a time of significant industrial growth and infrastructure development. The combined capacity of Vodafone Qatar’s experience in deploying such solutions and NetComm Wireless’ 3G/4G M2M technologies will enable a new level of business efficiency, productivity and safety,” said David Stewart, CEO and Managing Director, NetComm Wireless.
The Vodafone MachineLink 3G, developed by NetComm Wireless, has been certified by Vodafone Group and is ready for deployment to business customers on the Vodafone Qatar network.
NetComm Wireless’ industrial-strength 3G M2M devices are built to withstand challenging conditions, such as rugged in-vehicle and outdoor environments and feature a Software Development Kit (SDK) for true open management capabilities. The devices are also equipped with TR-069 to support remote asset management and control and multi-system monitoring for always-on connectivity.
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