O2 wins 1.4m sim deal with G4S for M2M connectivity services
Just got this one through from the team at O2 UK. This is the kind of news I’ve been waiting for regarding M2M. This is the sort of deal I want to be reading about. For too long M2M (“machine to machine”) mobile services have been lauded and ramped — and whilst there’s a few big installations out there, I’ve been waiting to hear about a big company going ‘big’ with the technology.
And here we are. Good news!
Here’s the release from O2 with the details:
Telefonica UK, which operates under the O2 brand in the UK, today announced it has signed an agreement to further extend the partnership with G4S Utility Services (G4S) the world’s leading international security solutions group and one of the UK’s major smart meter operations service providers. The five year agreement, includes the provision of up to 1.4 million SIMs, and will provide G4S Utility Services with Global SIM connectivity to support the delivery of services in the energy market. The multi million pound contract is one of the largest ever M2M deals in the UK market.
This partnership will further extend Telefonica’s UK capabilities in the energy sector which is experiencing growth both in the UK and worldwide. Under the agreement, the M2M platform will deliver up to 1.4m SIMs and, at its peak, Telefonica UK will be rolling out 70k SIM’s per month to meet G4S Utility Services required roll out plans underpinning the delivery of a managed service from G4S.
Kim Challis, Managing Director of G4S Utility Services, said “G4S Utility Services is committed to the Telefonica UK partnership, and this is another great example of our successful work together. Telefonica UK provides G4S with the partnership and strategic relationship we require to continue to be successful in the Utility Services sector.”
The extension of the contract follows the announcement of the G4S Utility Services contract awarded to Telefonica UK in March 2011 for a range of services including areas such as data transfer and security.
“The energy sector is a key area of focus for our M2M team and I am delighted that we have been able to extend our partnership with G4S Utility Services. This agreement truly takes the M2M market and in particular our offering to another level,” said Gilli Coston, Head of M2M at Telefónica UK. “We are constantly evolving our offering into the market with an ambition of providing a whole new range of services which changes what our customers and partners are able to leverage in terms of technologies and what they in turn can offer to the market.”
A good win for Telefonica. Congratulations to them and G4S. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more similar types of announcements across this year in this sector.
