Zain links up with Vodafone to tackle IoT opportunity

Source: Zain Group. Scott Gegenheimer, CEO, Zain Group, shakes hands with Vodafone M2M representatives during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

Zain Group, a telecom provider across eight markets in the Middle East and Africa, has expanded an existing partnership with Vodafone so as to deliver machine-to-machine (M2M) services to the enterprise and government sectors across the region. 

This development will allow Zain to leverage Vodafone’s experience in M2M and benefit from exponential growth in M2M and the Internet of Things across a variety of vertical sectors such as automotive, asset tracking, and smart metering. The agreement was discussed Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March this year, and finalised at Zain’s Business Services and Solutions Expo 2015 held in Kuwait in early May. 

The dynamic nature and application of M2M services are set to reshape the way the world does business. Gartner, a globally renowned information technology research and advisory firm has forecast a 30-fold increase in Internet-connected physical devices by 2020, up to 26 billion devices.

Vodafone’s expertise in providing smart metering solutions is a key factor underpinning the relationship. Globally, Vodafone has successful projects in India, New Zealand as well as in other countries.

Scott Gegenheimer, CEO of Zain Group commented, “The rollout of M2M services to our enterprise and individual customers is an important part of our strategic direction in creating a smarter world. The world is only just starting to appreciate the huge potential that comes from the real time monitoring and analysis of the Internet of Things and M2M traffic and the potential benefits of M2M to the communities we serve is far-reaching. Through this partnership with Vodafone, Zain will deliver M2M services to end-users in a cost-effective and scalable manner.

“Zain is transforming to become a digital services provider, and the development of M2M services forms a key building block within this conversion. Our planned entry into the provision of smart city solutions and enterprise services will help us achieve our revenue growth projections, with many of these activities falling under our Zain Digital Frontier and Innovation initiative.”

Erik Brenneis, Director of M2M, Vodafone, commented, “M2M is the foundation for the Internet of Things and we are looking forward to supporting Zain and its customers to deliver world class M2M services. There is a huge opportunity for new M2M applications across a whole range of market sectors, from connected cars and smart homes to mobile health.”

Zain will start rolling out M2M services in the second half of 2015 first in Kuwait on its nationwide 4G LTE network, with other country operations following.

According to Zain, M2M connects machines, devices, and appliances wirelessly to the Internet, transforming them into intelligent devices that exchange real time information and open up a range of business benefits. Devices to capture information are likely to incorporate a SIM card to transmit and receive data wirelessly.

M2M can enable enhanced energy efficiency, improve safety and security, support faster and better decision-making, and even enabling whole new products, services, and business models.