M2M Communications: A Systems Approach

Chapter 5

ETSI M2M Services Architecture

Omar Elloumi1 and Claudio Forlivesi2

1Alcatel-Lucent, Velizy, France

2Alcatel-Lucent, Antwerp, Belgium

5.1 Introduction

As with every vision, the M2M promise has taken time to materialize. The early phases have been dedicated to refining the vision, testing new business models, developing standalone solutions to test concept feasibility, and also overcoming the limitations of insufficient interoperability. The use of horizontal service platforms, as a means for an operator to provide value-added services, or for an application provider to have a modular and future-proof application enablement strategy, is an integral part of the M2M vision. A recent report from the Yankee Group on the US carriers' perspective on M2M, A Closer Look at M2M Carrier Strategy, very clearly depicts the fact that providing value-added services based on horizontal platforms is becoming a business imperative for telecom operators:

Carriers view value-added services as new differentiators. As all four major carriers have increased their coverage across the U.S., network availability is diminishing as a key differentiator. Overlapping coverage areas increase price competition, as solution providers have more carrier options in various geographies and can shop around for the cheapest price on a per-contract basis. The trend among all four carriers is to promote flexible, easy channels and robust device management services in order to attract business.

(Source: Yankee ...