There's some good news for M2M application providers in this article at Cellular-News.com: cost per megabyte is dropping but average revenue per user (ARPU) is not.

Although per-megabyte costs for data transmission over cellular networks continue to fall, the average revenue per user earned by operators offering cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) services shows no sign of declining, according to new findings from ABI Research.

Although cellular M2M ARPUs are still very low compared to traditional cellular data application returns, many service providers turn to mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) or M2M mobile operator (MMO) business models that allow them to wring economies out of automated processes and profit by fine-tuning their systems for M2M operations.

"Even those traditional mobile network operators (MNOs), which access this market directly see it as a strategic play combining application development with replicable bundled packages that they can offer to a number of high-volume customers," adds Lucero. "For example, a Sprint Nextel or a Rogers may have an M2M vending machine monitoring application, to which they will add the fleet management telematics for the trucks that service those machines, and the cell phone connectivity for the workers in those trucks. The M2M services enhance the desirability of the higher-ARPU services, and serve as a differentiator."