Germany’s Deutsche Telekom has signed what it calls a “nearly double-digit million euro contract” with cargo monitoring service provider arviem for the provision of M2M services.

The operator describes the deal as an “important building block” for expanding its presence in the M2M market.

The two companies are to work together on providing real-time monitoring services for freight consignments, with Deutsche Telekom (Bonn, Germany) contributing hardware and SIM cards while arviem (Baar, Switzerland) provides the software needed to evaluate data.

Mobile network operators could have the most to gain from the crossover of embedded SIMs into smartphones, tablets and consumer electronics devices, according to ABI Research, despite the widespread assumption they would lose out from such a development.

According to the market-research company, embedded SIMs could open up new M2M applications – with greater appeal for hesitant consumers – by allowing users to switch networks.

Myanmar is on the cusp of a mobile revolution. Only it's happening way too slowly for many locals.

Last week the government invited expressions of interest for two mobile phone licenses - a first step towards increasing mobile penetration from its current 5-10 percent to 80 percent in three years. That would lift it off the bottom of the world's ladder of mobile use and put it on a par with neighbors like Bangladesh.

In the meantime, users are chafing at the pace and price of adding connections.

Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily), Saudi Arabia's second-biggest telecoms operator, has asked to meet the industry regulator after it was suspended from selling pre-paid SIM cards, a company spokesman said, describing the ban as "astonishing".

Mobily's sales of pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go SIM cards will remain halted until the company "fully meets the pre-paid service provisioning requirements," the firm said in a statement.

Telit Wireless Solutions, a provider of machine-to-machine (M2M) modules and services, on Tuesday announced the establishment of m2mAIR, a new business unit offering M2M managed and value-added services including connectivity.

On Thursday, Orange, a mobile operator in France with over 27 million subscribers, and Gemalto, a provider of digital security, announced a large-scale rollout of a SIM-based NFC service to enable NFC-readiness for mass deployment of mobile contactless services.

China Unicom and Telefónica Digital, with its partner Telstra, have developed a remote management service for embedded M2M SIMs based on the cooperation and technical support of Giesecke & Devrient (G&D).