Mobistar, a subsidiary of Orange at the recent M2M event in Brussels, announced that it has already connected more than 1 million M2M machines or objects – ranging from vending machines to vehicles. 55% of its M2M SIM cards are installed on machines within Belgium while the remaining are installed on machines operated across the world. According to Mobistar, one out of every 5 SIMs it has installed is now installed in a machine.
With the phenomenal growth in the M2M/Internet-of-Things(IoT) segment, Mobistar expects the Belgian market to see more M2M deployments in coming years, especially across industrial and public sector applications. At the same time, the operator is also expecting strong growth in international demand for M2M connectivity services especially in the automotive sector where large auto-makers are looking out to partner with global service providers who can manage their telematics/'connected car' services across all the markets they serve. Mobistar will be leveraging on initiatives spearheaded by its parent company, namely the Global M2M Association which is a partnership between Orange, TeliaSonera, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, Bell and Softbank.
While smart meters have driven the M2M adoption in the power sector especially for the monitoring and management of power consumption levels, Mobistar shared a number of other key applications that have contributed to the increase in its M2M connections. These include the following:
Flemish Agency for Roads and Traffic's (Vlaams Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer) use of Mobistar's M2M technology to manage dynamic traffic signs alongside the highway and the ‘zone 30’ speeds signs close to schools.
Belgian company Transics, specializing in fleet management software, uses M2M connectivity for tracking & tracing of vehicles
Taxis Verts, the largest taxi company in Brussels, has equipped 500 cars with smart M2M cards to allow clients to order a taxi on their smart phone and for taxi drivers to be constantly keep up to date on routes, addresses and GPS-data.
Electronic payment terminals of Atos Worldline is used by traders and shops for payments
Coca-Cola uses SIM cards to supply its drinks vending machines.
Professional Nespresso coffee machines installed in offices support an automatic supply planning and are able to take care of timely repairs.
Stéphane Beauduin, Chief Enterprise & Wholesale Officer, Mobistar
Our Enterprise Mobility 3.0 strategy is aimed at helping our customers re-imagine their business processes” explains ‘Based on the value generated by Mobistar’s clients today via M2M applications in their products, we estimate that every SIM card installed in a machine generates on average 500 euro in revenues for our customer. That amount represents hardware, software and services linked to the end product, on the professional or consumer market.
