O₂ Telefónica and French mobile communications provider Transatel have signed a long-term cooperation agreement to offer IoT and M2M applications for industrial companies in Germany.

Transatel, a subsidiary of NTT, also offers a data roaming service for residential and business users under the Ubigi brand.

“With this partnership, we are contributing to drive the digital transformation in Germany forward efficiently,” said Alfons Lösing, board member of O₂ Telefónica. “O₂ Telefónica’s powerful network and Transatel’s mobile broadband connectivity open up new opportunities for companies to leverage IoT applications. We look forward to working together.”

Jacques Bonifay, CEO of Transatel, added: “Opening the German market to Transatel is an important step to enable innovation in the European IoT market, building strong business models with O₂ Telefónica and leveraging their network in Germany with all the new 5G SA features.”

With Transatel, O₂ Telefónica is bringing a strong, innovative MVNO into its German network. Hundreds of companies across the globe are already using its connectivity and IoT. Transatel is especially strong in the automotive segment, in industrial IoT and workplace connectivity, with customers such as Airbus, Stellantis and Worldline. In addition, Transatel also offers roaming via eSIM in more than 200 destinations to residential and business customers under its Ubigi brand.

The market for IoT and M2M will grow rapidly in the coming years because digitisation and automation are advancing in many industries, from the automotive industry to medical technology and logistics. According to Statista Market Research, the market volume in Germany alone will be around €51bn by 2028. The prerequisite for this is powerful networking of people, machines, engines or sensors.

O₂ Telefónica has been supporting companies in this area for many years, including with 5G campus networks, IoT connectivity, cyber security and SD-WAN.

The O₂ Telefónica network provides 5G coverage to more than 90 per cent of the population. In mobile communications, O₂ Telefónica serves more than 44 million mobile lines.

“As the telecommunications provider with a very broad wholesale expertise in Germany, O₂ Telefónica is open to new partnerships to expand the ecosystem-play for new innovations and business models,” said Lösing.

Transatel (www.transatel.com) is a cellular connectivity provider and MVNO enabler with over 100 MVNOs managed on its own full core network. It simplifies worldwide IoT deployments through a single integration to its connectivity management platform by leveraging LTE-M, 3G, 4G and 5G network access agreements with more than 250 international mobile carriers and regional infrastructures.

Transatel’s global (e)SIM securely connect millions of vehicles, industrial and consumer devices to public and private cellular networks across the world for clients such as Airbus, Stellantis and Jaguar Land Rover. It also provides global cellular data connectivity for international travellers and distributed workforce through its Ubigi eSIM (www.ubigi.com).

O₂ Telefónica (www.telefonica.de) is a full-service provider of telecommunications services for consumers and business customers. It serves more than 44 million mobile lines. In 2022, the company generated revenues of €8.2bn with around 7500 employees. The company is majority-owned by Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica.