NTT Docomo Announces Global M2M Platform

Japan's Docomo recently announced that it is preparing to launch a platform to enable wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) systems later this year.

The service will be targeted at enterprises and will be offered globally, the company said.

At the heart of the service will be a "unified web interface" that will allow Docomo customers in more than 200 countries to access its "docomo M2M Platform." According to the company, the international presence is believed to be key to the success of the service since it eliminated the customer's need to manage multiple M2M platforms. The technology backend of the Docomo platform is based on he M2M platform of Jasper Wireless, which is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

The service will allow real-time monitoring of data usage and communication fees, remote activation and deactivation of communication lines, as well as basic diagnosis of communication failures.

Docomo said that it currently has about 60 million wireless customers.

Wolfgang Gruener is a contributor to Tom's IT Pro. He is currently principal analyst at Ndicio Research, a market analysis firm that focuses on cloud computing and disruptive technologies, and maintains the conceivablytech.com blog. An 18-year veteran in IT journalism and market research, he previously published TG Daily and was managing editor of Tom's Hardware news, which he grew from a link collection in the early 2000s into one of the most comprehensive and trusted technology news sources.

See here for all of Wolfgang's Tom's IT Pro articles.

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