TORONTO – Seven world mobile operators, KPN, NTT Docomo, Rogers Communications, SingTel, Telstra, Vimpelcom (majority owner of Wind in Canada), and Telefónica (through its Telefónica Digital unit) have entered into a memorandum of understanding to form an alliance to support a single, global platform that multinational businesses will leverage to enable connected devices in multiple countries.
The goal of the global alliance, according to a joint press release, “is to create efficiencies for manufacturers and enhance the end user experience by enabling delivery of a global product with a single SIM, eliminating roaming costs in the countries of participating operators. The centralized management of SIM status and performance of M2M devices across the globe will be managed from a single web interface with Jasper Wireless' Control Center.”
The objectives of the alliance are to develop and grow M2M (machine-to-machine) business globally, simplify development of new business models, speed delivery of new product and services to market and help multinational business customers better manage and reduce operational costs. “It is expected that this initiative will increase the ability of all participating operators to significantly enhance the M2M value proposition for their respective customers in markets around the world,” says the release.
The alliance members will continue to co-operate to develop the M2M market by enriching customer experiences to better meet the needs and expectations of global customers and is targeted at multinational customers with connected M2M devices and is open to other operators.
Based in the Netherlands, KPN serves over 44.5 million customers, of which 36.6 million were in wireless services, 4 million in wireline voice, 2.5 million in broadband Internet and 1.4 million in TV.
NTT DOCOMO (Japan) serves over 60 million mobile customers via advanced wireless networks, including a nationwide 3G network and one of the world's first commercial LTE networks.
SingTel is Asia's leading communications group with 445 million mobile customers in 26 countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. It also has a vast network of offices throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States.
Telefónica Digital is a global business division of Telefónica aimed at delivering new growth for Telefónica through research & development, venture capital, global partnerships and digital services such as cloud computing, mobile advertising, M2M solutions and eHealth. Telefónica Digital will deliver these innovative products and services to Telefónica's 300 million customers as well as leveraging the power of the internet to enter new markets.
Telstra is Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company and also has an international presence spanning 15 countries, including China.
VimpelCom is one of the world's largest integrated telecommunications services operators providing voice and data services through a range of traditional and broadband mobile and fixed technologies in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic and Canada, covering territories with a total population of approximately 782 million. As of March 31, 2012 VimpelCom had 209 million mobile subscribers.
