Verizon and AT&T are moving deeper into the Internet of Things through telematics as recent deals with John Deere and a large shipping management firm demonstrate.

Telematics is one of the most understood IoT use cases, and because of this, and because of this telecom operators, such as AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone, have been offering telematics services for a long while. However, despite a long history of telematics implementations, telecom companies have been highlighting newer deals, under IoT nomenclature, to promote and sell their respective IoT platforms. In the first two weeks of November, examples of these deals abound.

Verizon-Telogis

Highlighting its recent acquisition, Verizon announced Telogis inked a deal with John Deere, which will have Verizon technology collect and analyze John Deere equipment. Telogis software will provide John Deere fleets with customer data insight, such as efficiency, fuel use and engine run time, and generate diagnostic codes. Customers will be able to use this data internally or deliver it to John Deere dealers for repair or part replacement. Customers will be able to monitor their entire Telogis-equipped fleet on one platform with a single login. TBR believes Verizon, Telogis and John Deere will begin targeting the construction and farming industries with this solution for the first implementations.

AT&T-RM2 International

RM2 International, a shipping pallet management, development and supply business, is leveraging AT&T solutions, including its LTE-M low-power wide-area network, to connect its pallet products. With AT&T’s support RM2 announced its RM2 ELIoT, a track and trace monitoring product attached to shipping pallets, which will improve shipping visibility, product integrity and provide more information if a product is misplaced or stolen.

Both partnerships speak to Verizon’s and AT&T’s IoT expansion strategies. Verizon will seek acquisitions that bolster its portfolio, especially in targeted industrial verticals, giving it more control over its IoT success. AT&T, conversely, will seek to enable partners to create their own IoT solutions using AT&T’s toolbox. AT&T will seek to reap the resulting machine-to-machine connectivity revenue if the partner is successful. Both approaches have merit, but TBR believes AT&T’s model may be more sustainable for rapid expansion.

(C) TBR