Machine to machine communications (M2M) is expanding – and will likely triple in size over the next five years, according to industry reports.

M2M will proceed into new fields such as “consumer telematics, electric vehicles and wireless home-energy management,” reports Urgent Communications.

In addition, the Yankee Group (News - Alert) projects worldwide enterprise cellular M2M connections will increase from 81.8 million in 2011 to almost 217.5 million in 2015, according to a Yankee Group press release.  During the same time, connectivity revenue will increase from $3.1 billion to U.S. $6.7 billion, the Yankee Group adds.

This will make M2M one of the biggest areas of growth in the wireless sector during the next several years.

 “The M2M market has matured from a fledgling industry into a force to be reckoned with in the wireless space,” according to a report from the Yankee Group.

“The number of cellular connections in the U.S. dedicated to M2M applications will nearly triple over the next five years, creating substantial growth opportunities in well-established verticals such as fleet telematics and industrial applications, as well as emerging opportunities including digital signage and pay-as-you-drive insurance,” the Yankee Group adds.

The popularity of cellular M2M technology was seen during the CTIA (News - Alert) Wireless 2011 trade show in Orlando, Fla. These include such deals as:

--AT&T announced a deal with Ford to connect the Focus Electric vehicle.
--T-Mobile (News - Alert) announced an embedded multimode SIM and an agreement with Audi for an Audi Connect system.
--Verizon Wireless is working with Sierra Wireless to provide a cloud-based platform for M2M.
--Sprint (News - Alert) Nextel reached a deal with Macheen for M2M solutions.

Urgent Communications also reports that fleet management and industrial apps will see lower prices for hardware. There will also be more innovation in the M2M sector, the report adds.

In other M2M news, TMCnet reports that Kore Telematics is expanding the M2M network. Through partners, Vodafone (News - Alert) Group and Iridium Communications, Kore M2M services are in over 170 countries, TMCnet adds.