Three communication majors – Vodafone (News - Alert), Verizon Wireless and nPhase –have forged a strategic alliance. A Verizon Wireless / Qualcomm Joint Venture, this grand partnership is aimed at accelerating the adoption of global machine-to-machine deployments by simplifying the remote management and monitoring of devices spread across both European and U.S. networks.

 

With better customer service becoming the buzzword across the industries and with businesses increasingly becoming aware of the value of delivering personalized services to their customers, deployment of M2M technology has become essential for the leading organizations with global presence. The Vodafone- Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless- nPhase alliance is reflective of this emerging business culture.

 

An increasing number of companies across many industries are seeking to use M2M wireless communications to enhance their customer service. The alliance is designed to deliver a simple and effective international management solution for the new M2M customers in the sectors ranging from healthcare to energy, automotive telematics, consumer and commercial products.

 

With the implementation of smart meters, the utility industry has been making a good use of M2M technology for quite some time.  This is enabling utility firms to efficiently collect meter data and provide two-way data transmissions and tailored offers for their customers.

 

The Vodafone- Verizon Wireless-nPhase alliance is expected to give a significant boost to the demands for M2M services on mobile networks across Europe and North America in the upcoming years. Globally, industry-wide operator revenues for wireless M2M were euro 3 billion ($4.3 billion) in 2008, and this is forecast to rise to euro 8.9 billion ($12.9 billion) in 2012, according to the telecom analyst firm Berg Insight, based in Sweden.

 

Individual Verizon and Vodafone customers are going to benefit from this alliance in good many ways.

 

Post alliance, it will be easier for the Verizon Wireless and Vodafone customers to activate, monitor and pay for devices that are deployed across both European and U.S. networks. Because of this alliance, the customers of both the providers will enjoy a single point of contact for provisioning devices that are connected to both Verizon Wireless and Vodafone networks.

 

The firms are going to gain in a different way. As a result of the alliance the firms will have the mechanism for centrally managing and controlling the process of rolling out M2M devices across many countries. Besides speeding up the implementation process and lowering costs, it will also help mitigate risks factors traditionally associated with deploying such projects. The alliance members will also work toward providing customers with a single invoice and a single point of contact for technical and other support.

 

The nPhase M2M services platform on the other hand provides a range of online management tools to the customers. Integrating with the Vodafone M2M global service platform, these tools are designed to provide the customers with a single view of their international M2M estate with additional management capabilities in the pipeline.

 

“M2M technology is playing an increasingly key role in helping firms to deliver more customized services to their customers, but the difficulties of managing devices on a global level was stopping the sector from realising its true potential. Through this alliance, we are making it even easier for firms to roll out M2M technology to their customers, where ever they may be,” Erik Brenneis, Global Head of M2M, Vodafone explained the objectives of the alliance.

 

“This alliance combines the strength of our recently announced nPhase joint venture with Qualcomm (News - Alert) with our long-standing global partner Vodafone. For our customers and for the marketplace, this means simplified management of devices globally across best-in-class networks in both the United States and Europe,” Tony Lewis, Vice President of Open Development for Verizon Wireless said while supporting the views of Erik Brenneis.

 

“The essence of this new alliance is to simplify the complex. This business alliance removes many of the complexities by building on the tremendous capabilities and reach of Vodafone and Verizon Wireless to offer a single standard interface, and provide pre-certified global devices that can support both CDMA and GSM networks,” Steve Pazol, president of nPhase summarized the true essence of the alliance.