The new joint venture between Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm revealed on July 28, 2009, was named nPhase and formally became an operational company.

The companies have reportedly signed an agreement to form a joint venture to provide machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless communications and smart services offerings across a wide variety of market segments, including healthcare, manufacturing, utilities, distribution and consumer products. The joint venture, which will be equally owned by Qualcomm and Verizon Wireless, will provide a single source for end-to-end M2M offerings.

Qualcomm said that the joint venture will deliver integrated M2M communication with global connectivity. Key new capabilities will include cloud computing products to automate device provisioning, and to track, monitor and manage assets.

Additionally, custom white label applications for OEM customers, productised applications for end-use markets, new diagnostic tools for monitoring network health and device performance, data aggregation services, back office integrations and other professional services required to deliver whole offerings will also be provided, as stated by the company.

The companies said that the new nPhase will be led by original founder and CEO Steve Pazol, who will serve as the company president. Pazol most recently served as the vice president and general manager of the acquired nPhase group, which was renamed Qualcomm Global Smart Services.

Steve Pazol, president of nPhase, said: “When we originally selected the name nPhase back in 2002, we knew this industry would be constantly changing and evolving, and we felt the name nPhase communicated this concept. We have been very fortunate to have been a part of Qualcomm for the last three years. Now with a 50/50 joint venture between Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm, we look forward to providing M2M wireless communication and smart service offerings to this rapidly growing market.”

The company said that the joint venture draws the nPhase name from the original Chicago-based machine-to-machine (M2M) pioneer launched in 2003, as a start-up focused on providing customised M2M communication products to meet the needs of OEM clients.

nPhase’s management team includes a combination of original nPhase founding executives, former Qualcomm executives, and a Verizon Wireless executive.