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We are only at the beginning of the machine-to-machine (M2M) revolution, believes Erik Brenneis, director of M2M at Vodafone, who has already seen the number of Vodafone M2M connections grow from 3 million to 14 million over the last four years. This is one of the conclusions of a new video interview on the M2M market with Brenneis by Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO at Beecham Research. 

In an exclusive interview with Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO at specialist M2M research and analysis firm, Beecham Research, Erik Brenneis predicted rapid acceleration of M2M connections, driven by the automotive, energy, health and consumer electronics markets. Brenneis also believes that while Europe is a maturing market that will see steady growth with applications such as smart metering, fleet management and payment systems, emerging market regions such as India and Africa are increasingly embracing M2M machine connectivity.

“As the largest global mobile operator, Vodafone is ideally placed to drive and support growth in  M2M markets around the world,” said Brenneis. “But rather than just providing the connectivity, we are now offering complete M2M connected solutions – working with partners to bring together hardware, software and data analytics.” Brenneis points to the Connected Cabinet or Freezer that constantly monitors temperatures and stock levels and feeds this information back to the drinks manufacturers and suppliers. Other examples include a connected car solution that monitors driver behaviour for insurance companies, and remote health monitoring for diabetic patients and heart pace-makers.

Erik Brenneis believes that keeping it simple has been the key to Vodafone’s success in the M2M market. “We created a very simple offer that consists of the service delivery platform, a single global SIM with one price and service level agreement and global teams to provide support that makes it very easy for customers to connect their machines,” said Brenneis, who also stressed the importance of Vodafone’s partners across networks, hardware, software and systems integration, in delivering a complete global solution.

When it comes to networks, Brenneis said that while 2G was perfectly fine for applications such as traditional alarm systems, applications such as the connected car will require an LTE connection inside the car that transforms the car into a driving WiFi hotspot to link in-car electronics as well as smartphones and tablets.

Brenneis, who has been one of the pioneers of the M2M market, is excited by opportunities ahead and believes that, “Vodafone has the mobile networks, the teams and M2M offers to create solutions that will help shape the future.”

WATCH THE VIDEOS: Click here to see interviews in full

Beecham Research is a leading technology market research, analysis and consulting firm with offices in Cambridge UK, North America and mainland Europe. The company is a global consulting and research firm focused solely on the worldwide and rapidly growing M2M, Internet of Things and Embedded Mobile markets. Beecham has specialised in M2M and related markets since 2001.

Vodafone M2M connects previously isolated machines or devices to the internet, delivering new functionality and enhanced services without the need for human intervention. Supported by over 20 years’ experience and over 250 dedicated staff, Vodafone’s global M2M platform reportedly enables global businesses to centrally manage M2M deployments across multiple territories, with greater control and at a lower cost than was previously possible.

You can also visit Vodafone in the Connected City at Mobile World Congress 2014, located in Hall 3, 3A11 and 3A31: http://m2m.vodafone.com/insight_news/2014-02-13-mobile-world-congress-2014-connected-city.jsp