Publicly-listed UK-based IoT module maker Telit Communications has raised GBP39 million (USD50 million) by issuing new shares representing 10% of its outstanding share capital, in order to fund several acquisitions planned for the near-to-medium term, mainly targeting opportunities in the ‘IoT services’ sector. Telit also this week received certification in the US for two 3GPP Release 10 automotive-grade modules for commercial usage on nationwide LTE networks; the 300Mbps LTE Cat 6/150Mbps LTE Cat 4 modules will be supplied to global automotive OEMs and Tier-1 providers in the US and markets worldwide, with mass production of the modules expected to start in the second half of 2017. Telit has also announced the official launch of the Telit IoT University programme for IoT developers and integrators, located at Telit IoT Platforms division in Boca Raton, Florida, US.
Elsewhere in the acquisitions market, IoT solutions provider Actility has sealed the takeover of French-based geolocation systems developer Abeeway, having last month raised USD75 million to support its international expansion. Abeeway’s low-power GPS-for-IoT technology will be integrated with Actility’s ThingPark IoT platform.
French telecoms regulator Arcep reports that there were 12.643 million M2M SIM cards active in Metropolitan France (excluding Overseas Territories) at the end of March 2017, showing an accelerated growth rate of 932,000 net new connections in the first quarter of the year (up from 807,000 net adds in 4Q16), and compared to 9.716 million total M2M SIMs reported at end-March 2016.
In other country statistics, Spain ended 2016 with a total of 4.357 million M2M accesses, according to regulator CNMC, a significant increase year-on-year from 3.626 million (and up from 2.993 million at end-2014). Spain is expected to be a hotbed of IoT/M2M activity in the coming years; in January 2017 Vodafone Spain launched NB-IoT technology in Madrid and Valencia, following a Huawei-backed trial, and the 800MHz network was extended to Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville and Malaga the following month, whilst rival Movistar successfully tested NB-IoT connectivity in February in conjunction with Ericsson.
In other Iberian IoT news, Orange Spain has teamed up with Tyco to launch Orange Group’s first home security package (including sensor-controlled 24-hour video monitoring, emergency response and smartphone set-up); just 8% of its network customers currently have any home security system, according to the cellco. Orange Spain is also this week exhibiting its new ‘smart store’ product range, including drones, TVs, loudspeakers, light bulbs, air conditioners and health products, whilst offering discounts on all smart home products until mid-June.
Australia’s IoT smart home market will be worth approximately AUD4.7 billion (USD3.5 billion) by 2021, according to a report from Telsyte, which also predicts that by 2021 Australian households will have a total of 311 million connected devices, of which over 45% will be IoT home devices. The report claims that over 40% of Australian households currently have one or more IoT home devices (compared to less than 30% a year ago), with an estimated average of 13.7 connected devices per household – a figure forecast to reach an average above 30 devices by 2021, including 14 IoT home devices.
The IoT market in Mexico reached approximately USD3.3 billion in 2016, largely driven by the ‘business, transport and manufacturing’ sectors, according to 5G Americas, adding that the market is expected to grow to about USD4 billion in 2017. The report continued that consumer IoT applications would begin to contribute significantly to Mexico’s IoT growth over the next three years. Putting the Mexican figures in context, according to 5G Americas the global IoT market reached USD812 billion in 2016.
US-based Viavi Solutions has upgraded its ‘CellAdvisor Base Station Analyzer’ testing system to support NB-IoT, claiming an industry first-of-a-kind, following trials with Tier-1 global service providers and major network equipment manufacturers. Viavi has developed software-based NB-IoT testing that can be installed as a licence on existing CellAdvisor handheld instruments.
In the Netherlands, PTC and Deloitte Nederland are cooperating on developing Industrial IoT solutions via PTC’s IoT platform ThingWorx. As part of a global initiative, Digital Agility (the ‘Digital Transformation Network’ unit of Deloitte) will develop ready-made solutions for ThingWorx IoT applications.
Lastly, IoT/M2M global standards initiative oneM2M says it aims to accelerate the adoption of its standards via its upcoming Interop 4 event in Taipei, Taiwan (15-19 May), hosted by two of oneM2M’s founding partners – the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) of South Korea and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) – along with the Taiwan-based Institute for Information Industry (III). In addition to international conference activities, Interop 4 attendees will be able to take part in interoperability testing of their IoT/M2M solutions based on oneM2M’s latest standards.
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