The GSM Association (GSMA) put the M2M market size at $1.2tn revenue with 12 billion connected mobile devices by 2020. These numbers alone are enough to excite the most conservative of operators and wobble the subscriber-centric business models that currently prevail. The existing model adopted by MNOs that the more subscribers it has, the more successful and profitable it is considered to be, is about to be tested by this massive new market. This is mainly because the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) in the M2M business is on average below ten cents per device, but on the other hand the connection density can be virtually endless. So success will depend on how dynamically the CSP reacts to provide new and flexible platforms to support the every-day new devices, applications and verticals that M2M will address.
Because of the low ARPU and massive market multiplier many MNOs should be prepared for a shake-up of their OSS which will have to fulfil and provision at bulk and at low cost.
IPv6 addressing will also make M2M services not just a mobile proposition, but applications that can work seamlessly across both mobile and wired broadband connections. eUICCs and wifi hand-off will have to be included in the new OSS. Furthermore Near Field Communication will require its own billing model.
Never before has a reference architecture been so required for M2M.
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