The Machine-to-Machine (M2M) industry is undergoing enormous changes as new and more advanced technologies and solutions are being developed everyday.

Podsystem Ltd., a UK based Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) that provides data SIM cards to the M2M and business travel sectors and offers coverage worldwide across a wide variety of networks, has announced that Retrieva, provider of advanced dog tracking collars, has selected its MultiNet Europe SIM cards. Using these SIM cards, Retrieva will able to extend its access throughout Europe. The MultiNet Europe SIM cards offered by Podsystem are able to roam within all the mobile networks in Europe at much lower costs than other cards, which will help Retrieva in offering premium roaming collars to its customers that can be used outside British shores as well. Apart from having office in the UK, Podsystem is also present in Spain and the US, and caters to customers across Europe and the USA.

The MultiNet Europe SIM cards by the Podsystem switch between networks on their own if coverage is patchy or if a network is not available to ensure that the device always remains connected. It will help Retrieva in providing its tracking collar all around the Europe as well as the people located in far off areas of the UK which who are not able to receive coverage from the mobile operator that provides access to Retrieva at present.

In order to stay connected, Rerieva’s dog collars operate deploying three different tracking technologies, which are GPS – a satellite based technology, GPRS – a mobile network based technology and radio frequency. The devices enable the users to track the exact position of the dog in real time right through his mobile phone.

“Having already established a broad customer base in the UK, we faced a challenge when demand for our dog collars began to increase in Europe,” commented Andy Stuart, one of the founders of Retrieva. “Although we had been working with a UK telecoms provider, finding a way to standardize prices throughout the whole of Europe and avoiding roaming costs became paramount,” added Stuart.

With the help of Podsystem SIM cards, dogs equipped with Retrieva collars will be able to roam accross Europe. Previously, the company used to ask its customers to buy local SIM cards on their own, which had to be sent to Retrieva for being mapped with the collar devices. But the process was quite cumbersome and proved to hinder mass adoption of the service among its potential customers.

“Discovering Podsystem’s MultiNet Europe SIM has put us streets ahead, enabling us to offer a comprehensive, premium service to European customers,” noted Stuart. “Previously, we as a company had to assume the risk of roaming costs if a customer frequently used the device abroad, whereas now this risk has been almost entirely eliminated.”

In October, 2011, Podsystem Ltd announced on Thursday a gigabyte SIM card for the M2M sector that can connect to any network in any country in the European Union (EU) at a fixed cost. According to the company, within each of the 35 European countries covered, the SIM roams on every network available, meaning that if a network goes down or there is limited coverage in the area, it will automatically connect to the next available network.