An anonymous director reports

GLOBAL M2M ASSOCIATION ELIMINATES BORDERS WITH SEAMLESS GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY SOLUTION TO BE SHOWCASED AT MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS

The Global M2M Association, a co-operation of six international Tier 1 operators (Deutsche Telekom, Orange, TeliaSonera, Telecom Italia Mobile, BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada and SoftBank) in the machine-to-machine market, will showcase its revolutionary new multidomestic service at Mobile World Congress 2015. Jointly implemented by GMA operators, the multidomestic service is designed to help global enterprises capitalize on the growth of connected devices. It is one of the most innovative M2M connectivity management services on the market and enables global deployment and management of M2M and Internet-of-things services, predominantly in the automotive and consumer electronics industries.

Multinational enterprises offering connected products to their global customer base are faced today with a key challenge: how to provide a seamless and easy-to-manage localized Internet-of-things solution for end-users. The GMA's multidomestic service solves this issue by delivering a single consolidated M2M management platform provided by Ericsson and already rolled out with TeliaSonera, Orange and Bell Canada, leveraging GSMA-compliant embedded SIM cards (eUICC) and the subscription management platform provided by Gemalto.

One platform, one SIM, one experience

The multidomestic service platform provides real-time connectivity management so that enterprises can effectively manage, monitor, troubleshoot and support their connected devices operated globally from a single source. It also offers powerful administration tools, including flexible definition of different roles and views, according to individual needs and business demands. The embedded SIMs and the subscription management platform allow for easy life cycle and connectivity management as they automatically adapt to the status of the connected products throughout their life cycle -- from manufacturing, testing, shipping and distribution to the end-user. Furthermore, the eSIMs will be provisioned with a localized profile and end-user offers within the GMA footprint, which enables global enterprises to develop M2M connected devices regardless of location around the world and to leverage customized end-user offers wherever they are based.

The customer benefits of GMA's multidomestic service are clear:

• Best-in-class coverage:
  • It is jointly implemented by international Tier 1 operators with an unparalleled network footprint and leading long-term-evolution deployments, which can deliver an outstanding service based on high-speed network excellence.
• New business models:
  • It enables new flexible and on-demand business models and M2M applications (such as in-car Wi-Fi), which enterprises can offer to their customers.
• Simplicity:
  • It brings connected products to market quicker by offering one consistent solution over multiple networks and countries, thus eliminating the hurdles of fragmented markets with different carriers and technologies in Europe and worldwide.
• Service excellence:
  • It ensures superior and enhanced service quality (such as incident management over multiple operators).
• Total cost of ownership:
  • It efficiently provides and manages services across a global footprint.
• Future proof:
  • It is compliant with local regulations and laws, for instance in countries where permanent roaming is not allowed.

"The Internet of things presents a number of challenges for enterprises as they seek to offer a global experience while providing local flexibility on pricing for connectivity. This is exactly the type of initiative that we believe will simplify the process of connecting devices around the world to the benefit of both enterprises and end-users, ultimately supporting the rapid growth rates that we anticipate in the IoT market," said Matt Hatton, founder and chief executive officer at Machina Research.

"For many enterprises, the race is on to provide interactive connected services; underpinning this is the need for a simple solution that provides connectivity globally. The GMA's multidomestic service offers global capability; a flexible management solution, which works in harmony with an enterprise's product life cycle; and critically provides a low total cost of ownership for connectivity," said Hans Dahlberg, head of TeliaSonera Global M2M Services and one of the founding members of the GMA.

Live demonstration at MWC

MWC attendees can experience a live demonstration of the GMA's multidomestic service by visiting:

• GSMA Innovation City area, Hall 3, Stand 3A11 and 3A31;
• Ericsson booth, Hall 2, Stand Z3.B1;
• Gemalto booth, Hall 5, Stand 5A80.

About the Global M2M Association

Established in February, 2011, the Global M2M Association is based on a service co-operation agreement between Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia and TeliaSonera. This partnership is now extended to Bell Canada and SoftBank Mobile. Its main focus is to deliver best-in-class, enhanced and seamless M2M services globally and to maximize the business benefits of customers. The GMA aspires to help businesses and organizations to increase the availability of enhanced M2M solutions and innovations and make them easier to deploy and manage all around the world.

Through this partnership, the participating parties are committed to offer customers enhanced quality of service, M2M roaming services and interoperability across a global footprint by bringing together their technical and innovation capabilities. This unified and cohesive approach will enable the improvement of incident and troubleshooting procedures and harmonize module standards through joint testing and certification.