The number of GSM subscriptions supporting M2M applications is expected to top one billion by 2015, according to equipment vendor Nokia Siemens Networks this week. To meet this demand, NSN has introduced a software suite catering to the use of GSM networks as M2M service platforms.

A direct result of this expected rapid growth in M2M will be increased signalling, traffic management and Quality of Service (QoS) issues, which NSN intends to tackle with an M2M software suite for GSM.

“M2M applications create both additional information and signalling load on the network,” said Thorsten Robrecht, head of Network Systems product management at Nokia Siemens Networks. “In mass-M2M applications, such as smart metering, the additional monthly payload is low, typically less than 1MB per subscriber. However, there will always be additional signalling load for every data transaction. Since M2M data transactions are expected to grow by ten times in the next few years, signalling will be a very relevant issue for operators. Our M2M software suite reduces signalling by up to 70 per cent.”

The secret to NSN’s M2M sauce is a precise paging feature that efficiently reduces the amount of signalling information between M2M mobile stations and base stations. As a result, GSM operators with M2M businesses don’t require additional base station sites to accommodate more M2M users, NSN said.

Earlier this week Nordic and Baltic carrier TeliaSonera joined the collaborative M2M programme announced by Orange and Deutsche Telekom in February. The project was put in place to create seamless international M2M services across the portfolios of the German and French incumbents. At launch the agreement covered France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, with the Netherlands and the UK joining subsequently. The addition of TeliaSonera adds Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia and Lituania into the mix.

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