The M2M (machine to machine) communications market is growing rapidly for the average consumer and for businesses. Most analysts predict that over the next ten years, the number of M2M connections will increase to somewhere in the region of one billion. That means that there will be more than one billion networked devices across the world sending and receiving information. So, what sort of devices will require M2M connections? Which industries will benefit most from one of the largest predicted growth areas for M2M communications is the consumer market?

According to many analysts, the place that will see the largest adoption of M2M technology over the coming decade will be the average family home. Tablet PCs and next generation TVs and games consoles are already beginning to drive adoption in the home but there are several new technologies just around the corner that will help to massively increase the number of M2M communications we have. Several types of intelligent automobiles and intelligent homes are being planned that promise to revolutionise the way we interact with our homes and cars. They will offer increased mobility and flexibility and aim to bring as much of our daily lives into a easily comprehensible network that can be efficiently controlled at the push of a button. Next generation of cars will be able to warn us of traffic jams, adapt themselves to road conditions and communicate with weather stations. They also promise automated breakdown distress calls and remote vehicle location services. Next generation homes will be able to select energy tariffs and order food. These are massive technological changes to the way we live that will be enabled by M2M Communications providers over the next ten years.

Huge changes are also expected in a number of industries. Perhaps the most significant changes will come in the energy industries as wireless M2M technology makes it easier, cheaper and safer to operate in locations that require specialist data collection techniques. Companies that need to constantly monitor offshore platforms or electricity substations, for example, will often need to do so from remote and hostile locations and sometimes over great distances. Wireless M2M and Satellite Telemetry solutions exist in order to retrieve data from locations that are not easily reachable.

M2M technology will bring huge changes to the way we do business and interact with our homes. It’s no wonder that clever investors are putting massive sums of money into M2M companies.