Look, who’s going to make Tata’s cars ‘smart’

New Delhi: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) said it is partnering with Tata Motors in a first of its kind machine-to-machine (M2M) communications deal with the objective to convert the automaker's vehicles into smart cars. The state-run telecom firm, which is already expecting to sell about 50 million M2M SIM cards with future-ready 5G capability in the next year, will provide embedded SIM cards to the automaker.

Hexa, Tiago will get a new avatar

The alliance will see the automaker's car models like Hexa, Tiago and the recently unveiled SUV Harrier transform into smart cars in about a year.

"We have already partnered with Tata Motors for embedded SIM functionality. Five lakh SIM cards were provided while another 10 lakh will be supplied in a year's time," BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava said.

BSNL's entry into IoT sphere expected to boost revenue

The chairman expects BSNL's entry into M2M communications can get at least "Rs 20 a month per SIM, which would potentially translate into a sizeable Rs 1,200 crore revenue opportunity annually."

Using sensors and applications, M2M technology allows communication between wired and wireless devices that can be used in projects like smart cities, smart healthcare, smart transportation and smart homes. The M2M industry — also known as "the Internet of things", will enable cars, home appliances and machines to be connected to the internet.

With more than 113 million mobile subscribers, the telecoms firm has been considering new enterprise business opportunities to compete with the heightened rivalry in the sector. Last year, Tata Motors, which is based in Mumbai, sold 237,217 passenger vehicles, recording a 24 percent growth compared to 191,107 vehicles sold in the previous year.