Mobistar has signed a contract for machine-to-machine, or “M2M,” applications with Touring for the 'Safe Drive' project. 

Thanks to the pact drivers from now on in the event of theft, accident or breakdown can get in touch automatically with emergency services within a few seconds throughout the whole of Europe. 

Mobistar officials said that in case of a serious accident, passengers will receive medical assistance quicker, while the vehicle will be located automatically in the event of an accident in an unknown area. 

M2M technology consequently significantly increases the safety and mobility of citizens.

The company officials said that technically, the Safe-Drive service consists of an application in the vehicle with a microphone, speaker and two keys - one of which is for urgent calls, or “SOS (News - Alert),” and the other for technical assistance in the event of a breakdown. 

It also includes a GSM and GPS antenna, and a detection system connected to the chassis. An external server receives the signals sent out by the SIM card and passes these on to the screens and telephones of the tele-operators.

The company officials said that 'Safe Drive' is just one example of M2M technology. As part of this technology, SIM cards, installed in equipment other than a GSM or PC, communicate with one another, with or without human intervention. 

With over 50 percent market share, Mobistar is the market leader in M2M applications in Belgium. Mobistar has witnessed strong growth of M2M cards since last year. 

Back in November, Mobistar announced an agreement with KPN Mobile International B.V. covering the purchase of KPN Belgium Business S.A./N.V., which has B2B and carrier activities in Belgium. 

The agreement includes the purchase of the fiber network, the takeover of business customers and the wholesale activities from the former Versatel S.A. 

The transfer will be effective during the first quarter of 2010 after approval by the Competition Council. 

Thanks to this agreement, the Mobistar network will be extended with 1800 km of fiber network and two data centers. This will help Mobistar to provide better service to its existing professional clients and will support its other segments.

To find out more about M2M, visit the M2M Evolution Conference. To be held Jan. 20 in Miami and collocated with ITEXPO East 2010, the M2M Evolution Conference will focus on how telemetry has been changing to take advantage of the Internet, where WAN and LAN systems were points of aggregation in the past today’s machines benefit from the ability to connect worldwide. And as the machines continue to look to network the wireless world represents a large growth opportunity for data communication. Don’t wait. Register now.