In order to develop the market around machine-to-machine connectivity, Ericsson announced a strategic cooperation with one of Russia's major operators, MegaFon, at the Open Innovations Forum in Moscow. Under the agreement, to cost effectively manage a large number of connected devices and machines for enterprises, MegaFon plans to use Ericsson's Device Connection Platform.
As part of the agreement, MegaFon will be provided with consulting services and utilities market research plus systems integration services by Ericsson. In a world of 50 billion connected devices, using mobile networks, many devices will communicate with applications and control systems, as foreseen by Ericsson.
Both enterprises and consumers will make use of numerous everyday devices that benefit from M2M connectivity at home, work, on the move, in remote locations and elsewhere. Utility meters, alarms, cars, buses and trucks and a wide range of consumer electronic devices are potential uses that are included.
Thus, in order to tailor enterprise offerings, for example in terms of price plans and bandwidth requirements for different M2M applications, operators need tools. In addition, they must be able to implement new applications fast. Provided as a service, the Device Connection Platform is a cloud-based managed connectivity platform. To a variety of different industry needs, it enables operators to industrialize M2M connectivity services.
In order to benefit from economies of scale, operators can address new revenue streams from a variety of devices while simplifying the process and reducing the cost of connecting them. While the platform facilitates smooth and efficient network provisioning, it also provides access to key functionalities including subscription management, device management and operator and enterprise self-service portals.
In order to leverage efficiencies along their customers' value chain from production to distribution, Ericsson will support MegaFon in offering services to enterprises from different industries thanks to its experience of the worldwide M2M market.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman