VIDEO INTERVIEW: The eye-watering $3.2 billion paid by Google for connected devices firm Nest earlier this year was a benchmark deal for the internet of things (IoT) market, according to Jahangir Mohammed (pictured), CEO of Jasper Wireless.

The trick to making sense of that takeover is not to focus on the thermostats and smoke alarms sold by Nest, he said.

“Google did not buy a thermostat company. What they bought is an Internet of Things company, that’s why they paid so much. It’s not a product firm, it’s a services company,” he explained.

Nest, which was co-founded by former Apple execs Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, designs sleek products that gather domestic data while enabling users to remotely manage their domestic environment. The data those devices gather is what interested Google about the firm. The deal was announced in January this year.

Looking wider, Mohammed explained what is driving the recent pick-up of interest in M2M and IoT. The pervasiveness of the mobile network, the cost of transporting bits and falling device costs are all part of the mix, he said.

“The convergence of these factors make this the right moment for the industry to really take off.”

Mohammed also objects to the term “M2M” which he characterises as “old”.

“The market really is the internet of things now. It’s about getting all the devices, all the things we touch and feel every day, connected to the internet so the experience becomes truly rich, that’s what this all about.”

Watch the full video here.