Target CIO Beth Jacob lost her job last week, due in large part to a security breach precipitated by a third-party vendor. According to news reports of the data breach incident, a Pennsylvania based HVAC contractor, was accessing systems remotely to manage heating and cooing systems in Target stores.

How are the billions of dollars of investment in mobile networks going to be fully recouped if indeed consumer mobile marketplace growth is slowing? The answer to that question will undoubtedly continue to play out in the years to come but one common prediction is that more focus will be placed on innovative M2M “connected devices”.

Today, operators are looking down the barrel of the same kind of growth opportunities with M2M connected devices; very reminiscent of TDM’s exploitive grown in the late 90’s. How the carriers will start to measure up domestically and globally, will largely depend on how quickly they react to market forces, and vet products that clients will readily deploy.