Vodafone is launching a global machine-to-machine (M2M) service platform that’ll help companies deploy and manage wireless M2M projects. The new platform will be supported by a team of over 100 staff. M2M can be used for a wide variety of automated services including smart metering, connected cars and remote equipment monitoring. Berg Insight says global operator revenue for wireless M2M will almost treble in the next four years, from €3 billion in 2008 to €8.9 billion in 2012 – and Vodafone has calculated that the environmental savings in Europe from M2M-enabled systems could be more than 90 million tonnes of greenhouse gas per year by 2020. [Press release]