4 of the total mobile trade in Europe end of 2009 and 4

Did you know Machines can also have a mobile phone number starting with "06" - and, since this year, "07". This may be the case of the coffee machine in the Office, which sends a message to the provider to report that it will be soon powder chocolate. Either of the elevator, that alerts repairers on a failure, to begin remote diagnosis and to interfere subsequently with the right tools. It is also as well as operate fixed radar detection systems and mobile embedded in cars. All of these devices communicate by SMS or via the Internet with a SIM card, such as any Subscriber with his mobile phone.

The market of the "machine to machine" ("M to M") is not heavy for the moment: it represents only 2.4 of the total mobile trade in Europe end of 2009, and 4.3 in the United States, according to the firm Berg Insight. In France, end of August, the "M to M" subscriptions weighed 2.3 of the subscriptions, according to a study by the General society based on the Arcep. But statistics are changing rapidly. In the third quarter, 47.4 of new mobile customers... were machines. A phenomenon completely unnoticed. It is true that it is never 230.800 more subscribers, and just a few large contracts, for example the equipment of a large fleet of company vehicles, to reveal a quarterly peak. In addition, there are seasonal effects. It is before you go on holiday that there is a radar detector housing, then to contrast, in the fourth quarter, human beings humans are filled of mobile phones as Christmas gifts.

Ultimately, the "M to M" mobile (you can also use wireline technologies) is still a negligible sales source for operators, but of interest to the highest point because of the volumes it generates, says Anne-Marie Thiollet, Director of the "M to M" program at Orange Business Services: "in Europe, this market has grown between 30 and 40 over a year., and the pace is expected to continue for years to come. In five to seven years, when succession to electrical meters distance will happen, it could become exponential. "Initially, the request came from companies who need to improve their process automate them, for example to manage a fleet of taxis and ambulances. New services in the direction of individuals are emerging, such as the GPS, to the status of traffic, alarm intrusion in homes. Connected gas and electricity meters, they have already colonized the Nordic countries and will become more widespread in the fact of the EU regulation France.

Less profitable than humans

Only one problem: the rise of the "M to M" won't be at the expense of the margins of the telecom operators The average monthly income by machine is typically a few euros, significantly lower than that reported a human Subscriber (more than 30 euros in France). André Méchaly, to mobile strategy at Alcatel-Lucent, prefers the problem in the other direction and highlight the opportunity that represents the "M to M" as the rate of penetration of the mobile in humans begins to Cap: "In five to ten years, there are ten times more of SIM cards in machines with human subscribers." This is potentially a source of income. The Internet of things might finance the transformation of the network to provide more throughput to humans who consume more data. "While mobile subscribers scramble"smartphones"and the key 3 G, significantly adding mobile traffic, machines have a very low load on the networks. They have a defect: to connect, you will have more as well as phone numbers and Internet addresses, which are limited resources...