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Telefónica’s M2M strategy in Brazil targets 2M accesses by end of 2013

Vivo, the Brazilian unit of the Spanish group Telefónica, announced its machine-to-machine strategy for the local market, aiming to double its  accesses from 1 million to 2 million connections by the end of next year. Vivo’s offers are in line with Telefónica’s cloud-based global project named “Smart Center.”

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Although Vivo leads its rivals in traditional mobile lines, it is No. 3 in the M2M market, behind Claro and TIM, according to the consulting firm Teleco. At the end of September, telecom regulator Anatel announced that there were nearly 6.3 million M2M access lines in Brazil.
Paulo Cesar Teixeira, director-general of Telefónica Brazil, said that Vivo delayed entering the M2M market because of spectrum issues — the company did not operate in the 900 MHz/1.9 GHz bands used by European operators. In addition, Teixeira said that recent government fiscal tax incentives have contributed to the carrier’s recent move and future expectations.

In June, Vivo said it had more than doubled its M2M connections over the previous year. The company also noted that it had been working to improve its offerings and would release new M2M platforms.

Initially, Vivo will sell point-of-sale applications, solutions focused on the utilities vertical and ones that help monitor and control vehicle fleets. In addition, the carrier is partnering with niche companies to build products aimed at a variety of different segments.

Estanislau Bassols, executive director for the business segment at Vivo, said that the carrier is looking mainly at the verticals of smart transportation, consumer electronics, smart cities, industry, utilities and sustainability.

Today’s POS represents about 15% of the company’s 1 million total accesses, and Teixeira noted that growth will come mostly from other verticals, such as small and medium firms.

 

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