According to multiple industry sources, the IoT market is predicted to grow exponentially over the next few years, with roughly 9 billion devices (from automobiles to home thermostats) expected to be connected to the Internet by 2018. As the economic value of the IoT industry increases, there are new opportunities for service providers to deliver IoT solutions. Comverse and Zebra Technologies have partnered to expand their IoT offering for customers.

The use case presentation at Mobile World Congress 2015 – March 2-5 in Barcelona – spotlights Comverse’s RCS API Gateway and its ability to use IoT for mobile operators to better monetise assets. Together, the Comverse RCS API Gateway and Zebra’s Zatar IoT platform will empower service providers to work remotely from their mobile devices enabled by the solution.

This solution offers consumers and enterprises the benefits of the ability to easily access devices and communicate as if they are talking with a live person, operators will be able to remove third parties from the equation and create direct relationships with subscribers. Operators can also compete effectively in the IoT ecosystem and generate new revenue sources, plus they will be able to easily build standards-based IoT applications using the Zatar IoT platform.  This solution will enable operators to offer new services via the RCS API Gateway to build more subscriber uptake, and IoT providers can easily integrate with operators via Comverse’s RCS API Gateway.

Adolfo Masini, Senior Vice President, Managing Director for Digital Services, Comverse, explained.  “Service providers that delay developing a strategy to address their subscribers’ Internet of Things demands risk falling so far behind the competition that it would be difficult to catch up. The market for Internet of Things solutions is here and offers an unprecedented opportunity for service providers to take a leadership position and differentiate and monetise their businesses. The API-ficiation of the market is happening and Comverse is pleased to offer a range of innovative digital services solutions to help our customers make their Internet of Things vision a reality.”

Philip Gerskovich, senior vice president, New Growth Platforms, Zebra Technologies, said. “We are very excited to showcase our powerful Zatar IoT platform alongside Comverse at Mobile World Congress 2015. At Zebra, we believe mobility is a key success factor for IoT, and we aim to help customers empower their mobile workforces with tools optimised to easily capture critical information as well as make data accessible to the people that run the operations.”