Orange has become the first mobile operator to offer a
commercial telemetry system in the UK. Its first customer, train
company Bombardier, is using GPRS to remotely monitor rolling stock
on the UK's railways.
The Orange M2M Connect service involves a partnership with Wavecom
and Alcatel. Orange supplies an IP gateway across its networks to
allow customers to access the remote data on servers and mobile
devices. As well as the cost of the equipment, users are charged
based on the amount of network traffic - either SMS messages or
packetised data over GSM or GPRS networks.
The technology is being used by Bombardier to check the condition
of the company's rolling stock automatically. It will initially be
deployed on UK railways to aid its maintenance programme on behalf
of rail operators.
Telemetry involves wireless machine-to-machine communication,
allowing data to be exchanged without human involvement. Vincent
Smedley, Bombardier's engineering director, said, "We can get the
required information close to real time, allowing us to plan our
daily maintenance schedule much more efficiently, and target the
most important issues."
Smedley said the system would first be deployed on 500 diesel
engines used by its UK train operators. The Orange M2M Connect
service will support Bombardier's maintenance agreements.
Bombardier will also re-sell the Orange service to allow its
customers to check the maintenance data themselves. The telemetry
data can be accessed through the Bombardier website, which also
provides a fault-finding database.
The company is looking to expand the telemetry system. "Orange is
promising a European-wide solution which will allow us to
cost-effectively monitor and maintain locomotives across borders
using a flat-rate tariff," Smedley said. "If the Orange trials go
well, our larger electrical train fleet may also use the system. We
already have some of our own telemetry systems in place, but these
have been developed for specific countries and operate on different
platforms." .
Alastair MacLeod, customer development director at Orange, said,
"M2M Connect demonstrates Orange's move to offer users tailored,
end-to-end solutions that can operate over geographical
borders."
Analyst firm Gartner estimates there will be 58 million telemetry
devices in use in North America and Western Europe by 2006. Analyst
Frost and Sullivan estimates there are 13 billion devices across
Europe that could be fitted with telemetry solutions.
System benefits
Areas that can be measured by the Bombardier M2M
(machine-to-machine) telemetry system include:
- Wheel adhesion levels
- Door closing times
- Engine performance
The company is considering using the system internationally, as
Orange's M2M Connect service supports "roaming" across national
mobile networks.