Vodacom launches a Global Machine to Machine platform

Johannesburg 28 November, 2012: Vodacom is launching a Global Data Service Platform (GDSP) to help companies deploy and manage large, wireless Machine to Machine (M2M) projects. The new platform will be supported by an expert local team backed by Vodafone's global M2M business unit.

The launch of the Vodacom GDSP is one of the ways that the company is looking to bring its scale and expertise to this fast-growing market, which is seeing  an increasing number of customers using wireless M2M to enable new business opportunities and enhance customer service. This is particularly evident in areas such as smart metering, vehicle tracking, point of sales (POS) and the remote monitoring of equipment. 

The Vodacom GDSP platform, with its unique functionality, will provide customers with managed connectivity for M2M smart service deployments.  By using the GDSP platform, companies will be able to centrally manage and control the process of rolling out M2M devices across many countries, increasing the speed of implementation and reducing the cost, complexity and risk traditionally associated with deploying such projects.

GDSP uses a dedicated Vodafone SIM with a unique IMSI range with our 5 billion available numbers to service this market. The GDSP SIMs are available in both standard plastic (2FF) and Chip (SON-8) form factors.

As well as enabling companies to gather useful customer data from a wide range of wireless intelligent devices, the platform offers a suite of management functionality, including the ability to centrally activate, suspend and deactivate devices at the click of a button. The GDSP also allows customers to view the high level status and usage of all SIMs as well as to query usage, status and many other variables of their individual SIM cards. All functionality is available via a web graphical user interface (GUI). Alternatively, the customer is able to integrate into the platform from their own systems via APIs.

"The market for M2M services using remote intelligent devices is both broadening in scope and size. In order for it to deliver its true potential, service providers like Vodacom need to provide customers with managed connectivity that is reliable, cost effective and universal," said Gabi Strijp, Executive Head of Mobile Enterprise Product Management, Vodacom Business Services.

"We understand that deploying and managing large numbers of SIM cards can be very resource intensive and hence costly. The GDSP addresses this by putting the control back into the hands of our M2M customers so that they can focus on other areas of their business."

Vodacom also provides a full range of dedicated M2M tariffs on Vodacom SIMs, APN and access solutions as well as standard plastic 2FF and Chip SON-8 SIM form factors.