The UK is leading other major countries in the European mobile machine-to-machine (M2M) market, according to market analyst Frost & Sullivan.
The analyst assesses the market in its "European Machine-to-Machine Connectivity Outlook", which covers Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the UK, and which looks at connectivity and market participants.
The report says a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33 percent is expected for the market in these countries between 2011 and 2016. The number of SIM connections is expected to reach a total 75 million in 2016, "with the UK market taking the lead followed by Germany", said Frost & Sullivan.
Frost & Sullivan analyst Saverio Romeo said: "Besides tapping into immediate M2M application areas where legislation is a driver for adoption - such as eCall for connected cars in Europe and in smart meters - M2M telcos are also increasingly positioned for the wave of M2M functions that are dictated by business objectives."
Romeo said the "next waves" of M2M applications are expected in healthcare, industrial automation and consumer electronics. There will also be "steady demand" for security and remote surveillance, retail and other process automation applications.
However, for the surge to occur, said Romeo, further consumer education is required. M2M telcos must "continue to provide consulting services to build use cases and define an acceptable return on investments", said the analyst.
Deutsche Telekom and DriveFactor recently unveiled a complete usage-based insurance (UBI) system that enables motor insurers to offer their customers special benefits for driving safely through an M2M platform.