INTERVIEW: The internet of things puts mobile operators “in an innovation conversation”, believes Chris Penrose, head of IoT at AT&T (pictured), as he outlined the US operator’s global commitment to the segment.

Speaking to Mobile World Live in Shanghai, Penrose said AT&T saw IoT as the “fourth wave of opportunity for operators to create new revenue streams”, by bringing full end-to-end solutions to partners, and diversifying away from offering only connectivity.

He stated operators are leveraging IoT by positioning themselves as innovators to “help other businesses really advance where they need to go”.

“We really do look at it by identifying the problem and look at how we can bring solutions for efficiency, drive out costs, or create new revenue streams for those that we work with,” he said.

In terms of AT&T’s US IoT developments, the operator already launched a nationwide low-power LTE-M network, and it is now looking at a launch in Mexico. It also often touts its credentials as the world’s biggest connected car backer.

Penrose said the company’s wider efforts from an IoT perspective are “truly global”, and it was committed to working with companies all over the world, across every single vertical.

“Our customers are beginning to take their concepts, and what they’ve been prototyping, and now they are asking how to scale these things all over the world and do it in every single vertical,” he said.

Penrose also said transportation was the biggest vertical in IoT at the moment, and he also opened up on the potential of “connected dirt”. Click here to watch.