"93% of strategy execs said that exploring new business models is as important in this current economic climate as cutting costs and retaining customers."
STL Partners Brainstorm Participant Survey

Overview

Most industry analysts agree that there will be a dramatic increase in the number and nature of “connected devices” over the next 3-5 years. These are predicted to run into tens of billions and include communications-enabled consumer devices, machines that move around (vehicles), things that don’t (vending machines, street furniture) and a myriad of sensors, cameras and other intelligent devices.

With existing M2M strategies most telcos are only set to address a fraction of this potential market and, unless they think more creatively, will only capture a small proportion of the value from it. This event will look at how telcos can take advantage of this opportunity and examine the opportunities to offer platform-based services beyond connectivity.

The event includes focus sessions on the opportunities for the connected home. It builds on the highly successful M2M sessions held in November 2010 and May 2011 in London and draws on research from STL Partners, including our latest report M2M 2.0: Market, Business Models, and Telcos' Role(s), and analysis from our specialist M2M partner Beecham Research.

Format

The 'Executive Brainstorm' uses STL's special interactive 'Mindshare' process. This mixes short, specially briefed stimulus presentations, with newly commissioned market analysis, interactive technology to enable everyone's voice to be heard and to support voting on key issues, and panel discussions with leading experts.

AGENDA

0800 Registration Open

0830 Welcome, Introductions & Warm Up

Philip Laidler, Director, Telco 2.0 Initiative / STL Partners
Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO, Beecham Research

0900 Strategies and business models

Historically, the telecoms industry has taken a vertical approach to M2M and embedded mobility opportunities with particular focus on automotive and transport, security and surveillance, and utility metering and monitoring. A more recent approach has been to focus on developing open horizontal platforms upon which third-parties, potentially from different verticals, can create solutions across the traditional stovepipes. What are the benefits and issues of each approach and which is most suitable in different circumstances?

Hypothesis being tested

The current (and well-established) 'vertical' approach is worthwhile in large enterprise markets where an operator has an opportunity to generate out a substantial volume of connectivity business
An open, horizontal platform approach to M2M offers the most potential to support new upstream partners (including developers) and drive adoption, particularly as more and more devices become connected to the ‘Internet of Things’.
The skills required for a vertical and horizontal platform are very different. A vertical approach requires substantial vertical industry knowledge and deep software skills and relationships. A horizontal approach requires significant intra-telco collaboration and buy-in from the wider value network (chip and device manufacturers, software vendors, integrators)

Key questions to debate

What are the big opportunities and challenges of vertical vs horizontal market approaches?
Which business models are more applicable to vertical and horizontal approaches?
What are the latest case studies and best practice examples of innovation

Presenters and Panelists
Short stimulus presentations x 3, followed by debate with participants using our ‘Mindshare’ interactive technology, followed by a panel discussion (with 2 additional panelists):

Sven Krey, Head of Sales Development, International M2M Competence Center, Deutsche Telekom AG
Helene Hartlief, M2M Marketing Manager, KPN
Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO, Beecham Research

1045 Innovators Showcase

David Heaps, SVP Corporate Strategy, CSG International

1100 Break

1130 M2M and embedded connectivity value through additional Telco capabilities

Much of the value in M2M sits above the “raw payload” of connectivity. All too often, operators find themselves caught in a bidding war for cheapest possible connectivity prices. Typically, in any given traditional M2M project, the connectivity accounts for a tiny fraction of the overall value created, with devices, integration and application development taking the lion’s share. How can operators add more value?

Hypothesis being tested

Telcos can add value above connectivity and thereby build stronger revenue lines from M2M
It is not just connectivity but capability that developers and upstream businesses need. Building bearer-agnostic capabilities for identity, authentication, payments, device management, customer care, and so forth is the way forward for the telecoms industry

Key questions to debate

How can telcos build a bigger, more valuable M2M business ?
What platforms will be needed to enable the Internet of Things?
What are the concrete examples of adding value and generating new revenues from M2M services?
How should operators organise themselves to address new M2M business models?
How will the M2M future play out for the different wireless network technologies?

Emmanuel Routier, Director International M2M Center, Orange Group / Mobistar
Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO, Beecham Research
Ed Candy, CTO, Three
Paul Green, Marketing Director, Arkessa

1300 LUNCH

Afternoon Overview

Many potential M2M applications fail to get off the ground because the costs of launching them are prohibitive. Developers and enterprising application providers are faced with having to create everything from scratch rather than “plugging into” an existing platform. There cannot be an “Internet of things” without an Internet. In the early days of home computing, AOL and Compuserve created their own proprietary networks and applications... from scratch, very much in the same way that M2M applications are rolled out today. These networks were eventually subsumed by the wider Internet and common applications such as the World Wide Web eventually created a new opportunities for a whole new generation of companies. Facebook, Google, Amazon would not exist, had they needed to create their own version of AOL.

1400 Shared Connectivity for the Connected Home - What are the opportunities?

The connected home is becoming a hotbed of activity and competition. As a whole series of connected devices are entering the home - from games consoles and tablets to set top boxes, media servers and smart meters - it is becoming a point of confluence for the communications, connected entertainment and energy markets. Many other industries are also interested in building applications including home care, insurance, marketing services, security and appliance maintenance. However, the home is a highly cost sensitive environment which may not support individual connectivity solutions for each sector. This creates potential opportunities for sharing connectivity across services and new roles for telcos.

Hypothesis being tested

An ever increasing number of connected devices will enter the home. However, duplicating connectivity for each different service may make them prohibitively expensive for the home market
There will be a natural consolidation around a few connection points and associated hubs rather than a proliferation of an ever-increasing number of directly-connected boxes in the home
By leveraging their assets, telcos can put themselves at the heart of the connected home ecosystem

Key questions to debate

What are the core "stove-pipe" vertical applications for the connected home: entertainment, communications, energy and other verticals?
What are the more innovative application areas that cut across the traditional "stove-pipes" combining data and controls across these: smart grids, connected entertainment, communications?
How can multiple services from different sectors make use of shared connectivity?
What sort of model is required? What could the future ecosystems look like and what is the potential role for telcos?

Svetlana Grant, Project Manager - Embedded Mobile Programme, GSMA
Chris Chung, Head of Emerging Technologies, British Gas
Corrado Rocca, Board Member, Home Gateway Initiative
Mike Short, VP, R&D, Telefonica O2 Europe
Steve Cunningham, CEO, Landis & GYR

1530 Break

1600 Service Enabler strategies across multiple home hubs

Optimising connectivity across multiple services has the potential to play a key role in the success of the connected home. Service enabler platforms have the potential to provide a safe mechanism for consolidating data from the home and supporting multiple verticals that seek to build applications that require a 360 degree view of the home, combining energy and entertainment data/controls to build new insight and services. By leveraging their assets and building the appropriate service enabler platforms, telcos have an opportunity to position themselves at the heart of the connected home ecosystem.

Hypothesis being tested

The user interface will be a key differentiator in the battle for the home hub.
Service enabler platforms that sit above the different connection points/hubs and support multiple verticals will emerge.
What is the way forward to create cost-effective service offerings that work? What is the route to market? How important are SES platforms in this?
Telcos have both the connection and additional assets - customer data, billing, customer care, content delivery, identification and authentication - that can support and enhance the services being delivered by connected devices

Key questions to debate

Is there a need for single connectivity solutions for multiple services? How can this be brought about and what is the role of telcos in this?
What are the main candidates for the home hub? How many hubs are required and what are the business model implications?
Which telco assets are important to building value in and from the connected home? How can telcos leverage the connection and their valuable assets to maximise their role in the connected home?
Should telcos be attempting to be the one hub or provide services to a range of other hub service providers?