M2M market to use Wi-Fi, WiMAX, report says

Third-generation networks are expected to capture only 30 percent of the machine-to-machine communications market by 2012, predicts a new report from ABI Research.
“Municipal Wi-Fi and WiMAX will both challenge 3G cellular technology as the most suitable methods to achieve high-speed M2M communications for many applications and in many locales,” said Sam Lucero, a senior analyst at ABI Research and author of the report.
High-speed wireless M2M will serve such applications as wireless backhaul for fixed-wireless terminals, multimedia content delivery to point-of-sale terminals, high-speed telematics connectivity, remote information displays and video security, said the company.
“Some think that cellular networks will eventually be all-3G,” said Lucero. “But ABI Research does not believe that is practical, in terms of cost and power consumption, for all operators in all geographical areas.
“WiMAX and (especially) municipal Wi-Fi offer attractive alternatives to CDMA 1x EV-DO or HSDPA 3G technologies for wide area wireless M2M,” said Lucero. “They are both more cost-effective and operationally efficient.”