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Mar. 21, 2010

John Horn, national director of M2M at T-Mobile USA says that the wireless carrier is going after the M2M (machine-to-machine) segment.

T-Mobile will achieve this with no less than 4 SIM form factors to better enable organizations that need M2M applications and to use only the one that best fits their own specific needs.

“Our strategy for many years has been to make us the easiest company to do business with in the U.S.,” Horn added.

While T-Mobile doesn't break out its M2M revenues, Horn was quick to point out that the company has experienced more than 105 percent growth each year since 2006.

In the M2M segment, T-Mobile offers 4 different SIM solutions for its customers: the generic SIM, one that is enhanced with greater life expectancy, an embedded SIM and the 3FF (Third Form Factor) SIM , which was introduced at CES-Los Vegas two months ago.

The 3FF SIM is smaller than others and designed for personal M2M devices like the child locator device sold by Lok-8u.

“Overall, different segments have different needs,” Horn said. While the 3FF SIM works well for a wristwatch-type device for children or adults who may get lost, an embedded SIM may work better for an off-shore oil rig that uses M2M technology to do preventive maintenance.

T-Mobile's strategy has paid off well enough that its parent company Deutsche Telecom is implementing T-Mobile's technology throughout its wireless operations to more closely align itself so that it is easy for multinational companies to use T-Mobile's international resources.

“Germany had a lead in telematics and we benefited from that. Now we're returning the favor,” Horn said.

So far, T-Mobile has successfully avoided the tie-ups with M2M specialists that its competitors have because it simply created its own solutions, Horn said.

Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility and Sprint Nextel have either all aligned themselves or acquired M2M companies in 2009 to further advance their own solutions.

AT&T announced a strategic partnership with Jasper Wireless and Verizon Wireless. For its part, Qualcomm formed nPhase, and Sprint has partenered with DataSmart.

As part of T-Mobile's new strategy, Deutsche Telekom will focus on intelligent networks surrounding the energy, healthcare, automotive, distribution and media sectors, some of which are traditional M2M sectors to begin with.

Specifically, T-Mobile's parent company plans to increase its OIBDA margin (based on service revenues) to more than 36 percent in two years from now, compared with just about 31 percent in 2009.

Deutsche Telekom also said that its U.S. subsidiary will build its network to cover about 187 million POPs (points of presence) with HSPA+ by end of this year, and double the number of 3G smartphones in the network to about 8.1 million units.

In other news, Deutsche Telekom also announced a new strategy that focuses on intelligent networks as the world moves from voice-centric wired communications to one surrounding broadband.

“The wireless industry is changing rapidly and we are transforming Deutsche Telekom,” said CEO Rene Obermann at the presentation of the Group strategy “Fix – Transform – Innovate” in Bonn, Germany, on March 17.

Obermann added that “two main factors are important right now: a high-margin core business and the courage to focus on promising growth areas. Today, promising strategies must have more than just one focus.”

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Source: T-Mobile USA.