At the ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona wireless carrier AT&T announced that it had successfully built and tested a universal SIM that would allow easy Machine-to-machine communication across the globe.

Heralding the new innovation that the company built in conjunction with Jasper Wireless, Glenn Lurie, president of emerging segments, AT&T said that with the single SIM dedicated exclusively to the Global M2M Offering, the benefit would come from a single solution, backed by an industry leading well managed platform.

AT&T will be looking to expand its market beyond cellphones as the market becomes saturated and reaches the inevitable spectrum saturation point. The new technology  will open new markets that will see multinational corporation tracking dozens of contracts through AT&T as a managed portfolio of tracked items.

The AT&T M2M Application Platform will allow developers to build global M2M applications and link them to devices and assets via Internet,Wi-Fi, satellite or the AT&T network.

AT&T, which currently supports 1200 connected devices world wide will use the new technology to enhance its hardware and applications to support a global M2M deployment,” said Chris Hill, Vice President, Advanced Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business and Home Solutions.

The M2M market is set to explode as more and more machines come online to create what has now come to be termed as the Internet of Things. Connected devices are set to surpass the human population in the next 20 years. This does not seem very far-fetched as currently, cellphones alone outnumber human beings 5 to 1 and the number is still growing.

About Daniel Mbure

Daniel is a writer, strategist and serial tech entrepreneur. Follow Daniel on Twitter @thespianic