I had the chance to interview Riccardo Di Blasio the CEO of Globetouch and no relation to the Mayor of NYC. Globetouch is global MVNO with relationships that provide coverage to over 180 countries around the world with over 40 agreements. However, they have gone beyond the agreements to make API interfaces to enable services to be configured as needed by auto manufacturers and other companies shipping worldwide.

This enables dynamic inventory management and better abilities to reconfigure if inventory has to be redirected. For example if ship containing cars was going to Puerto Rico and now they want to redirect to Europe or Latin America, they can manage the compliance requirements while still at sea.

Now to accomplish this Globetouch has a series of solutions under the name GStack, the components also start with the letter G.

• GConnect is about connectivity using their “CloudSIM technology, it allows us to deliver turnkey solutions and services… The simplified and robust local breakout nodes address the key regulatory requirements appropriately as per the geography and vertical markets.”
• GControl is the configuration management aspect of the solutions which is “the IoT Connectivity Management Center that enables enterprises of all sizes & verticals to … handle critical connectivity management functions …[including] life cycle…. user profile management, … split billing & invoicing, and diagnostics.”
• GFusion is at the top of the stack enabling APIs and representing the “intelligent management and application enablement layer for the IoT Platform. GFusion provides easy and secure integration of devices and edge network sensors, and enables the optimization of business processes with accurate real-time machine data processing and analytics.”

Combined these GStack elements address Device Management, Connectivity Management and Application layer management. However, the complete picture of GStack also includes the extraction of the device interfaces and business process /regulatory requirements into a series of API’s enabling interfaces to be managed in common.

As our friend Steve Bell puts it “Globetouch’s GStack platform is delivered through a software-as-a-service model and offers its customers access to a virtualized connectivity fabric that allows machines and IoT devices to communicate with one another. It also allows for computing to take place on the edge.”

When I talked to Riccardo, they had just been highlighted in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant, however, I am not sure they were given as much honor for Globetouch’s vision. As Riccardo explained it to me the car is the mobile phone of the future, or more specifically will be it’s own mobile phone. While connectivity to entertainment and mobile apps are nice, the car cannot be dependent on a single mobile operator like a mobile phone. In addition the applications to connect to all the sensors in the vehicle, the need for collision detection, reporting systems are other specific solutions are not likely to be part of an app store. Like Tesla’s vehicle the console dashboard is essential for the hundreds of sensors to provide the information and to enable applications.

As Globetouch enables those applications in the field they will be the Twilio of Telematics.