Day two of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona saw another number of IoT related announcements. Nokia announced NB-IoT trials with Vodafone, and Ericsson with Verizon. Sigfox announced two new customers
Nokia, Intel and Vodafone demo NB-IoT
Nokia demonstrated NB-IoT technology at Mobile World Congress in collaboration with Intel and Vodafone, “marking a major milestone in the drive towards commercialising NB-IoT as a global standard for connecting billions of meters, sensors, tracking devices and other objects crucial for a programmable world.”
NB-IoT is a 3GPP Rel 13 radio access technology designed for enabling cellular connectivity to IoT devices. The technology is designed to reduce the costs, enhance coverage and extend the battery life of connected objects. It is expected to allow for the tracking of objects deep within buildings and in rural areas.
The demonstration showcases the network coverage enhancements and benefits of future NB-IoT services from Vodafone in both rural and urban scenarios, supported by NB-IoT-enabled network equipment from Nokia and client device technology from Intel. “The system highlights NB-IoT’s capability to support the massive number of low-throughput sensors and devices that will enable next-generation services to consumers, smart cities, utilities and industry,” Nokia says.
Ericsson to deliver Cat-M and NB-IoT to AT&T
AT&T announced that it was working with Ericsson to deploy CAT-M and NB-IoT 3GPP standards-based technologies to support IoT apps and improve device performance on the AT&T LTE network. AT&T and Ericsson are displaying these technologies at Mobile World Congress and say they expect to begin trials later this year.
Verisure taps Sigfox for alarm monitoring
Verisure Securitas Direct, a European provider of monitored fire and intrusion alarms and response services, is extending its coverage via the Sigfox network in France, where it will deploy more than 200,000 systems connected to the network for homes and businesses during Q1 of 2016.
Since September 2014, Verisure has integrated Sigfox connectivity in its security systems to give its customers extra protection against GSM network outages and jamming attempts. The company said its experience with Sigfox in Spain had demonstrated Sigfox’s cost-and-energy-use advantages and indoor performances, and its superior anti-jamming protection compared to network protocols such as GSM.
“Sigfox’s communications-jamming protection is very robust compared to GSM,” said Christophe Fourtet, co-founder and chief science officer of Sigfox. “RF power required to jam Sigfox communication with conventional jammers is huge and far beyond the power capability of jammers available on the market.”
The Securitas Direct Group also plans to expand its collaboration with Sigfox to other European countries, including Portugal, where the Sigfox network is also available nationwide.
Sigfox to connect one million Otio home alarm devices
Otio, a subsidiary of Groupe HBF specialising in electrical equipment, lighting, home automation and which commercialises wireless home-automation and security equipment, has chosen the Sigfox network to support its new international offer of connected devices.
Connected devices from the Otio Alert product line detect domestic incidents such as smoke or carbon monoxide emissions, dramatic temperature changes, power failure or house intrusion, and immediately inform users by SMS.
Groupe HBF and Sigfox have signed an international connectivity contract for one million Otio Alert devices, initially focusing on the French, Spanish and German markets. The Otio Alert line will include a hundred different products by 2020. The first Sigfox Ready certified products will be available in September 2016.
AllSeen Alliance adds eight members
The AllSeen Alliance, a Linux Foundation cross-industry collaboration to advance IoT through the AllJoyn open source software project, announced eight new members.
Domotz provides Home intelligence systems that professionals and businesses can use to deliver remote tech support services. Its systems enable users to monitor devices from remote, provide remote tech support, get alerts about device events, manage power, perform diagnostics and remotely access devices that support remote desktop, http, https, VNC, SSH, RDP or Telnet connections.
Enphase Energy, a global energy technology company “delivers simple, innovative and reliable energy management solutions that advance the worldwide potential of renewable energy.” It has shipped approximately 10 million microinverters, and more than 370,000 Enphase residential and commercial systems have been deployed in more than 95 countries.
y8studio is a design company developing sustainable homes.
General Mobile Corporation (GMobi) is a Taiwan-based company specialising in mobile Internet services. Founded in 2011, the company has built partnerships with over 80 OEMs and supporting over 1000 models of smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, wearables and connected devices across different chipset platforms.
iST is an electronic verification service providers. It provides service to more than 10,000 customers from IC design to end products.
Onbiron provides IoT middleware solutions based on open standards, that can be integrated with mobile and cloud backends. The Onbiron IoT platform is a connectivity enabler for device manufacturers.
The AllSeen Alliance has also added new sponsored members Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and Online Trust Alliance (OTA).
Amdocs debuts IoT monetisation platform
Amdocs announced the Amdocs IoT Monetisation Platform, billed as “a multi-industry cloud-based multi-tenant platform, enabling service providers to maximise the potential of IoT services,’ that enables service providers to “quickly onboard enterprise and OEM partners, and bill consumers purchasing IoT products and services directly, or via the consumer’s bill with the service provider.”
Amdocs’ IoT Monetisation platform support the traditional IoT wholesale-billing model for communication services and additional engagement models, such as white-label billing for the IoT provider, reselling IoT services direct to the consumer, or becoming an IoT services billing provider. The platform handles complex settlements across the different engagement models and manages the entire financial flow between all the involved parties.
Verizon details ThingSpace deployments
Verizon announced a series of new deployments and partnerships based on its ThingSpace IoT platform, launched in October 2015. It is billed as “a simple platform allowing businesses and developers of all sizes to build, manage and consume applications.”
Verizon has teamed up with ITK, one of the world’s largest crop modelling companies, based in France, to provide farmers, vineyard owners and growers intelligence to improve planning, crop yield, and sustainability through data and analytics tailored for the agriculture industry.
Georgetown University in Washington DC has installed ThingSpace to enhance security efforts for students, faculty and facilities on university grounds. Napa County Airport also used the technology as an extra layer of protection to allow local law enforcement to quickly identify and assess potential threats that would negatively impact fans and business partners attending Super Bowl 50 along with the community-at-large.
The Village of Bedford Park, a Chicago suburb, has been set up as a Verizon Smart City Municipal Innovation District. It is using Verizon’s IoT technology for lighting, public safety and traffic, and aims to transform its existing infrastructure into a smarter digital infrastructure. The improvements are intended to fuel economic development by attracting millennials, enterprises and start-ups to the community.
Introducing Intelligent Track & Trace, a near real-time supply chain management platform on ThingSpace for the healthcare industry. It is designed to help pharmaceutical and other healthcare companies in the US and some European countries to track, trace and monitor the condition of their shipments, particularly high value assets.
Becoming a champion for “ideas worth spreading,” through its new partnership with TEDxCambridge, held in Boston, Massachusetts, Verizon will participate with thinkers and doers ranging from CEOs and scientists to academics and policy makers. Verizon will also showcase new IoT technology through its Boston-based innovation centre.
Gemalto and Jasper simplify global IoT device deployment
Digital security company, Gemalto and Jasper, a global IoT platform provider (being acquired by Cisco), announced a partnership to simplify global deployment of IoT devices and services through on-demand subscription management. Jasper’s IoT service platform will be integrated with Gemalto’s LinqUs On-Demand Connectivity to remove the complexity of deploying connected services worldwide – for mobile operators, device manufacturers, and application providers.
Customers will be able to provision and manage subscriptions on devices remotely via a single embedded SIM (eSIM), “resulting in more efficient and cost-effective deployment models while enabling rapid distribution and device activation.”
Macario Namie, VP strategy at Jasper, said: “Joining forces with Gemalto means connected devices can be transferred seamlessly between networks to take advantage of local operator support, comply with international roaming restrictions and address cost constraints.”
Benoit Jouffrey, VP of on-demand connectivity at Gemalto, added: “Our customers can dramatically increase opportunities and growth across IoT verticals such as mHealth, automotive, and consumer electronics that rely on seamless cross border connectivity.
SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom ink partnership
SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are to collaborate in the fields of services, IoT and related R&D areas “to strengthen their capabilities as ICT industry leaders and to achieve new growth through joint business opportunities in Asian and European markets.”
For IoT they say they are ready to combine their efforts to mutually investigate industry leading smart city solutions to “enable the two to serve the customer needs in the best way to make their cities smarter and to expand the related services into new markets.”
