O2 jumps on mobile health bandwaggon

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O2 jumps on mobile health bandwaggon

Hires GlaxoSmithKline executive to head new unit to pilot broader M2M strategies

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 8 March, 2010

READ MORE: UK | O2 | M2M | Medical/Health

Mobile health is certainly in vogue for carriers. Sprint Nextel's CEO Dan Hesse put it at the center of a recent presentation on the firm's WiMAX-based 4G plans; Vodafone and Orange both have major initiatives in place; and now O2 UK has appointed Keith Nurcombe, a former executive at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, to head a new mobile healthcare division.

This unit is designed as a testing ground for strategies and services that will be applied more broadly, if successful - to other Telefonica territories around Europe and Latin America, and to other machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. O2 said the new unit was part of its wider strategy of becoming a services company.

Nurcombe will be responsible for delivering a "defined structure and roadmap" for O2 and healthcare over the next five years, O2 business sales director Ben Dowd told Mobile Today. He will work on wireless managed services in areas like telehealth and telecare, including remote diagnostics and patient monitoring. The new unit will go into action in May. Further divisions in related areas of M2M could follow.

Last week, Sprint's Hesse was talking up one of his favorite themes - new revenue streams for advanced wireless networks like that of Sprint's key joint venture, Clearwire. As Sprint's subscriber totals fall on its main network, it has been particularly enthusiastic about services that take their fees from non-consumer sources such as government and health agencies, device retailers or content owners. Some of the applications he sees for wireless-embedded technology in healthcare include e-prescribing; instant, secure access to vital signs such as heart rate; instant diagnosis of ailments like flu; ultrasound probes incorporated into cellphones for examinations outside of hospitals; 'virtual' home doctor visits; and home working during pandemics such as H1N1.