German mobile phone operator E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. is rolling out a new package of competitive fees aimed at businesses using cellular-based machine communications.With its new price plan announced Wednesday, E-Plus, a subsidiary of the Dutch mobile phone group KPN Mobile, hopes to tap the nascent market for machine-to-machine communications, a sector that analysts view as one of the next big growth areas for cell phone companies.Cellular machine-to-machine communications can involve short-message service messages or data sent automatically to a wireless module from a computer, or vice versa, without human involvement. For instance, cars could someday call automatically for help after an accident, identify with pinpoint accuracy where they are and provide information about the type of accident.In addition to vehicles, the modules could be integrated into fleet management systems, vending machines, security alarms, office equipment and domestic appliances. The E-Plus MSM Data Option offers four basic rates, beginning with a per-unit monthly fee of 1.50 euros (US$1.9), excluding 16 percent value-added tax, for 1MB of data transmission and extending to a 6 euros monthly fee for 10MB. Each kilobyte of data exceeding the applicable monthly rate can cost between 0.0023 to 0.0014 euros.Customers must use cellular devices equipped with general packet radio service technology. In addition to E-Plus, several other operators have their eyes set on grabbing a piece of the machine-to-machine pie, including Cingular Wireless, Sprint Nextel, Orange, TeliaSonera and T-Mobile International & Co., according to ABI Research.In a study, ABI Research said cellular machine-to-machine is becoming a prominent enabler in numerous enterprise and industrial applications. By John Blau, IDG News Service (Dusseldorf Bureau)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe