The M2M Alliance and Horizon House Publications have announced that the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Zone Pavilion & Conference will expand at next year's CeBIT (News - Alert) 2011. The significant expansion will mirror the double-digit growth in the M2M industry as a whole, according to officials at M2M Alliance.

Next year too, the event will be jointly conducted by the M2M Alliance, Europe's trade group for M2M vendors, and Horizon House, the owner of M2M Zone (News - Alert) events. The M2M Alliance is an open organization with members representing the entire M2M value chain.

Horizon House signed a marketing agreement with M2M Alliance in November 2009 to make the CeBIT trade show one of the most important European gatherings for the M2M industry.

CeBIT is expected to attract more sponsors in 2011. Exhibitor bookings for the upcoming 2011 event are several-fold greater than at the same point last year.

Last year's event drew participation from fellow European carriers Orange/Mobistar, Telefonica O2, and KPN, as well as equipment makers like Telit, Cinterion (News - Alert), and Laird. In all, exhibitors at the M2M Zone at CeBIT 2010 emanated from seven countries on two continents, according to CeBIT officials.

The M2M Zone Pavilion will be held on March 1-5, and the M2M Zone Conference will take place on Thursday, March 3, at the Deutsche Messe Fair Grounds in Hannover, Germany – both within the Telematics Hall of the massive CeBIT 2011 trade show for IT and communications technology.

"Our inaugural event drew extensive press coverage, including several articles in Germany's largest daily newspaper, as well as international television coverage. We expect next 2011's M2M Zone at CeBIT to be even more impactful," said Georg Steimel, chairman of M2M Alliance, in a statement.

Telenor (News - Alert) Connexion AB, the Scandinavian wireless-service provider, which had spent a one-year hiatus from exhibiting at CeBIT, is returning to the fold as a part of the M2M pavilion.

"We've got serious global clients in important vertical markets like automotive, healthcare, and energy, and this is one of very few venues where you can meet high-level ICT executives from the breadth of these markets," said Robert Brunback, head of Market Strategy, Telenor.

The M2M market is growing. According to an ABI Research (News - Alert) report, the cellular M2M communication market has had fluctuating fortunes. While 2007 was a 'good year', 2008 was witness to a drastic decline in shipment volumes and revenues. However, as 3G gained more significance, the market seems to have picked up and it is estimated to be worth $3.8 billion in 2015.