::: nBlog :::

In 2011 I wrote about virtualizing (spiming) the mobile phone. Now in 2015 it may finally be happening, along with an avalance of other IoT products targeted both for industrial and consumer use. I have to admit, though, being quite surprised that our dear sock got there first.

Most telecom operators are struggling to find new revenue sources after traditional value-added services, such as SMS, MMS and video/conference calls shift to network independent players such as Apple, Facebook and Microsoft. For quite some time, machine-to-machine (M2M) market (in operator talk, selling SIM cards to industrial use) was supposed to double the amount of subscribers and revenue, but with increasing data speeds customers quickly consolidated their assets behind a few 3/4G connections using local connectivity like WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and others.

As the world is changing around the telcos, they need to choose whether to remain just the data pipe provider for the new generation of service providers (such as BaseN) who digitalize and connect both new and traditional industry products, or be part of the Spime world, actively participating in the value and service transformation of existing and new customers.

Together with our connectivity partners we’re ready to support the transition from telco to ‘spimeco’ for both national and global telcos. However there needs to be a strong commitment from telco management – Spimes and the IoT are not just another over-the-top service taken into portfolio; it will quickly surpass voice and other services in terms of value generated to customers.

In many ways Spimes/IoT is a similar change as IP protocol was to the telcos. It is just bigger and more profound.

//Pasi

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