AT&T And IBM Partner On M2M Project

On Tuesday, we reported the roll out of T-Mobile’s new eSIM for connected devices and today, AT&T threw its hat into the M2M ring, announcing a new partnership with IBM to develop solutions to support the Internet of Things.

Details on the new deal are still light, but the companies say they will initially work on creating M2M solutions targeted at city governments and midsize utilities. That probably means you won’t see too many wearables or home automation advents coming out of the partnership — sorry early adopters.

“This collaboration of two world-class companies will help deliver a more connected planet,” said Chris Hill, senior vice president, AT&T Advanced Solutions in a press statement. “We share a vision that the ‘Internet of Things’ will help companies in a variety of industries rely on their remote assets and connected devices to take their business to the next level.”

AT&T says it hopes to create a system that enables city governments and utilities to quickly analyze and leverage huge quantities of data from mass transit vehicles, utility meters and video cameras. This will allow cities to evaluate trends and patterns to provide better urban planning and asset management. 

“Smarter cities, cars, homes, machines and consumer devices will drive the growth of the Internet of Things along with the infrastructure that goes with them, unleashing a wave of new possibilities for data gathering, predictive analytics, and automation,” said Rick Qualman, vice president, strategy & business development, telecom industry, IBM. “The new collaboration with AT&T will offer insights from crowdsourcing, mobile applications, sensors and analytics on the cloud, enabling all organizations to better listen, respond and predict.”

The Internet of Things is a burgeoning market and it should come as no surprise to see carrier after carrier jumping into the new space. According to IDC, the number of connected devices will grow to 212 billion by 2020.