Connected Living experts address Mobile 360 Latin America as region prepares for rapid growth of M2M

RIO, BRAZIL – On 13th-14th May, 2015, the GSMA’s Connected Living programme exhibited the latest programme advances and addressed attendees at Mobile 360 Latin America, the premier mobile event in the region.
During the event, Connected Living showcased the Future IoT Networks Roadmap, in which anyone can view and download the key initiatives and resources that the programme has released, and discover the programme’s vision in the years to come. Attendees were also able to experience a journey through the mobile network – an immersive virtual reality experience using Oculus Rift.
Our programme experts Jeanine Vos, Executive Director, Gary Waite, Executive Director – Embedded SIM and Dr Shane Rooney, Executive Director, Future IoT Networks, also addressed the Conference and Workshop, where they discussed the M2M opportunities for Connected Living, operators and those in the wider ecosystem.
The GSMA Embedded SIM Specification – and its potential to transform the M2M market was top of the agenda during the Workshop. Other area of focus were the GSMA’s IoT Connection Efficiency Guidelines, the security of the IoT and a range of technologies designed to address applications requiring low power, wide area and small amounts of data transfer use cases.
Market Opportunity
According to GSMA Intelligence, Latin America is the third-largest M2M market globally, with approximately 17.2 million cellular M2M connections. By 2020, this will more than treble to 63.7 million, representing a huge opportunity for mobile network operators (MNOs) and other players in the wider IoT ecosystem.
As a continent which has a distinct mixture of developed and emerging markets, MNOs providing M2M connectivity and the value added services that derive from this, will have an opportunity to provide a wide range of M2M services and solutions.
Steps, in the form of appropriate regulation, have already been taken to increase the ease with which operators and other ecosystem players can innovate and deploy in this space through regulations. In Brazil, the region’s largest market, various regulations and laws have been enacted to encourage the growth of M2M:

  • In September 2013, Minister of Communications announced plans to reduce the tax on M2M communications, providing a stimulus for operators to develop M2M services.
  • The Departamento Nacional de Trânsito (DENATRAN) has also published an updated timeframe for the compulsory installation of location devices in new vehicles. Its June 2013 resolution states that by 2015 all new vehicles produced for the domestic market must have an M2M device to allow vehicle tracking and remote blocking services.
  • The Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency (ANEEL) approved a resolution that regulates the basic requirements for smart meters. The resolution states that energy distributors have to start offering smart meters to consumers in a time bound manner, although the smart meter installation is only performed when requested by the consumer.

The implementation of regulations such as those above, will enable the M2M market to scale more rapidly and allow for a more cost-effective delivery of public services that can improve the lives of many people in the region.