Most M2M implementations are not using the amount of bandwidth 4G LTE (News - Alert) requires.  However, much of the wireless technologies today are being grandfathered and will not be available at the end of this decade.  Planning for the future with LTE should be part of everyone’s plan.

Primarily, the role of gateways continues to change as a result of the increased 4G speeds. Whereas in the past low bandwidth applications homed in on a central site, the ability to aggregate out in the field is proving to save on cost and add redundancy. Another key aspect is that bringing the feed-with-speed to the point-of-sale is significantly adding to the visibility and robustness of digital signage, kiosks and other customer interactive solutions.

Next week, Ken Hosac of Cradlepoint will take part in a webinar that discusses these new Business-to-Consumer communication opportunities for M2M via the leveraging of LTE.

Everything changes, of course, and the migration to LTE could lead M2M down many cul-de-sacs that potentially lead to shorter implementation of End-of-Life than is normal. For those of us who see ourselves moving closer and closer to the Minority Report - the reality is that there is still a long way to go.

LTE technology extends beyond retail to include solutions such as video surveillance, transportation, industrial monitoring, and business continuity. And as a result of the move to it, determining which network solutions will enable enterprises to improve operations, quality control, decision making, relationships with customers, and transactional opportunities looks more and more like the type of decisions you would make on a Wireline network.

Ken Hosac’s webinar will focus on the following topics:

• Acceleration of 4G network deployment
• M2M market and trends
• Target (News - Alert) market segments
• Integration of network solutions with M2M platforms
• Time to market for M2M platforms
• Customer best practices

Every M2M implementer is sure to find great value and insight in the webinar discussion, and I look forward to having you join us on Tuesday.