Vodafone Business Services to power connectivity for JCB's construction equipment in India

Vodafone Business Services (VBS) - the enterprise arm of Vodafone India, announced its strategic technology partnership with JCB India Ltd - India’s leading manufacturer of construction equipment. This partnership will enable Vodafone to provide Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solution to power JCB`s Livelink.  - an advanced telematics system that allows remote monitoring of its construction equipment and provides information on service, operation and security of the equipment. Vodafone Business Services has recently retained its position as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Managed M2M Services for a second year in a row.

Announcing the collaboration with JCB India, Nick Gliddon, Director – Vodafone Business Services says, “Vodafone is renowned globally for being an undisputed leader in M2M solutions and is driving the Internet of Things (IoT). The VBS M2M powered Livelink will help the users of the JCB construction equipment to better manage the efficiency, maintenance and health of the equipment. JCB customers will manage working versus idle time, fuel usage and identify small problems before they cause unscheduled downtime.”

He added, “M2M presents a huge opportunity in the highly competitive Indian market.  This Livelink deployment is an example of our strong, successful and differentiated approach to M2M in India. We have the capability to maintain over 10 billion SIMs and are confident of growing business further, especially from segments like healthcare and automobiles.”

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, JCB India Limited, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Vodafone for our Livelink, an important technological upgrade for JCB equipment. This has the potential to radically change the way we enable our customers to monitor their machines and also in the way we provide real time support to our customers.”

The following Livelink elements are the key to maximize the machine productivity:

• Service - Accurate Hours Monitoring leads to improved maintenance planning as machines can be maintained at the most convenient time for your operation
• Operation - The Fuel Reporting System enables operators to monitor fuel consumption, improving control of fuel stocks and planning of fuel orders
• Security - enables the user to track the location and also receive the tow away alerts
• Remotely monitor machine health for any malfunction
• Identify and remove wasteful idle time, improving utilisation and cutting fuel costs

According to Ipsos, the global construction equipment market was estimated at INR 5,551 billion ($90.5 billion) last year and is expected to reach INR. 7,310 billion by 2016, representing CAGR of 7.7 per cent. Emerging markets such as China and India are becoming increasingly important on the global stage as key players shift their production bases to Asia to drive revenue by benefiting from the region’s growing infrastructure investment, favourable government policies and mass-scale domestic markets. India’s construction equipment market outpaced global growth trends with the market estimated at INR. 208.4 billion at the end of last year. Revenue is expected to reach INR 461.5 billion by 2016, CAGR of 20.5 per cent.

Through a dedicated team of Account Managers and Service Managers and applying a consultative selling approach, Vodafone Business Services offers a varied range of products and services such as Machine to Machine Solutions, Wireline Data Solutions (MPLS-VPN, Internet Leased Lines, domestic and international Leased Circuits), Office Wireline Voice (E1-DID), Toll Free Services, Conferencing and Collaboration, Application Mobility and Mobile Email & Connectivity Solutions to help enterprises (big and small) to enhance their productivity and efficiency.