Preliminary data from Berg Insight indicates that worldwide, the number of mobile network connections used for wireless M2M communication reached 81.4 million at the end of 2010, up 46 percent year-on-year.

The U.S. and Japan recorded growth rates of 52 percent and 60 percent respectively, mainly driven by connected devices such as e-book readers and digital photo frames. Europe maintained the top slot: the number of M2M subscribers increased 43 percent to 29.5 million. North America was up 51 percent to 23.6 million, followed by Asia-Pacific, growing by 53 percent to 19.6 million.

According to Berg Insight’s estimates, AT&T (News - Alert) became the world’s largest provider of wireless M2M connectivity services last year, reporting 9.3 million subscribers in 4Q 2010. The U.S. operator added 4.7 million machines and consumer devices with embedded connectivity during 2010, almost doubling its subscriber base. Meanwhile the previous market leader Verizon Wireless (News - Alert) was demoted to second place in the U.S., and worldwide reporting 8.1 million subscribers at end of 2010, despite adding 1.2 million connections over the year.

Vodafone (News - Alert), which does not currently disclose its number of M2M subscribers, ranked third, the estimates being in the range of 7 to 8 million connections. China Mobile was estimated to be in the fourth place with around 6 million connections, followed by T-Mobile (News - Alert) at approximately 5 million. Telefónica, Telenor, Orange, Sprint and America Móvil were other top 10 players with 2 to 4 million connections each.

Want to learn more about M2M technologies? Then be sure to check out the M2M Evolution conference, collocated with TMC’s (News - Alert) ITEXPO East, taking place Feb 2-4, 2011, in Miami. The M2M Evolution Conference is for those industry professionals interested in capitalizing on a rapidly growing segment of the telecom industry. The M2M Evolution Conference embraces the any-to-any strategy of the Internet today. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media, it showcases the solutions, and examines the data strategies and technological requirements that enterprises and carriers need to capitalize on a market segment that is estimated to grow to $300 Billion in the year ahead. To register, click here.