SIGFOX, a provider of Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity, has announced that mobile-telecom industry veteran Allen Proithis will head the company’s expansion in North America, including deployment of the SIGFOX network in 10 major U.S. metropolitan areas by Q1 2016.
Proithis, who was named to the new position of President of SIGFOX North America, comes with an extensive background in the IoT and M2M markets, having led the development of several businesses in those spaces within the U.S. over the last five years. The 10 deployment areas will be San Francisco, New York, Boston, Los Angles, Chicago, Austin, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Jose.
Early last year, Proithis led the funding and launch of wot.io, an award-winning Internet of Things startup focused on accelerating value produced by the data generated by the IoT.
Prior to that, he was executive VP of InterDigital Solutions, where he was responsible for monetising a US$700 million, 10-year R&D investment by taking commercially promising technologies to the marketplace. In that role, he led the creation of Convida Wireless, an M2M joint venture with Sony, InterDigital and Stephen Capital, and until recently served as chairman.
Earlier in his carrier, Proithis spent seven years at Hewlett-Packard. At HP, he ultimately led strategy & business development for their Handheld Business Unit, where he was responsible for strategic initiatives for mobile devices, software and services, including the launch of HP’s first mobile app store.
Proithis began his career in the consulting business in the telecom and technology industries and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications from Penn State University.
“North America is the key for SIGFOX to expand its global network coverage and to be at the heart of one of the most active ecosystems in the global IoT and M2M markets. Allen brings his strong experience in the telecom industry and we trust that, under his leadership, our North American business will develop quickly,” said Xavier Drilhon, SIGFOX deputy CEO.
SIGFOX, whose technology is already FCC certified, has recently begun to work with U.S. city and regional government agencies to provide low-cost, energy-efficient and two-way connectivity for smart-city programs, as well as businesses in multiple verticals.
In addition, it has partnered with U.S. chipmakers such as Texas Instruments, Atmel and Silicon Labs to provide transceivers, modules and systems-on-chips (SoCs) for its network.
“There is a fast-growing community within industry and government that is eager to have the SIGFOX Internet of Things network available in the U.S., because they have seen the company’s impressive growth and evaluated its technology and business model,” Proithis said. “I am very excited to lead SIGFOX’s North American network deployment and to work with network operators, businesses, developers and others to help bring its IoT-dedicated connectivity to North America.”
In his new role, Proithis will lead all activities from the new SIGFOX North America headquarters in Boston.
