Combonet, a digital wireless mobile network and trusted provider of mission-critical telecommunications in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, aims to provide the most reliable, secure and clear communications to the professional user allowing them to work safer, smarter and simpler. By offering complete flexibility, every organisation can find its ultimate communications capability. Combonet controls its own network to ensure that only authorised users have access. This keeps all communications completely secure which is vital for its work with professionals and emergency services. Combonet guarantees that radio communications between individuals and control rooms on any device will be locked down to authorised users only and, to support the success of critical IoT, its secure network keeps all sensitive data private. Combonet is a subsidiary of the Entropia group which also includes Combus which takes care of software integration between platforms and in control rooms. Combonet has also delivered its first app in the Google play store.
With a long history of supporting its mission-critical customers, Combonet was keen to expand its applications and IoT connectivity in addition to its critical communications capabilities. It turned to iBASIS for its global IoT connectivity and programmable SIM management capabilities. Traditionally, business-critical functionalities are focused on voice with only limited data support, with iBASIS offering higher bandwidth that also enables certain data functionalities to be added to the proposition. Higher availability than many national mobile operators and top security credentials were important determinants in the selection of iBASIS for Combonet’s expansion.
iBASIS’s global IoT Connectivity offering and fully featured remote programmable SIM (eSIM) management capabilities were also identified to help unlock new levels of speed, reliability, security, and scale for critical voice, data-only, and machine-to- machine (M2M) services. As a result, with a single Combonet SIM card, critical 4G and 5G broadband services are possible over multiple networks on a global scale. If a network fails, the SIM card immediately and automatically identifies which network has the strongest signal, depending on the location, and partly connects seamlessly using the Combonet apps and ComBus software.
Via iBASIS’ Simfony CMP, Combonet’s multinetwork mobile data products are managed independently through a hassle-free management portal and are also accessible to external managers. The communications management platform (CMP) allows Combonet to create its own plans and proposals for different customers with an option to have real-time connectivity research troubleshooting. Even Combonet’s customers can get their own management environment, managing their own eSIMs and mobile data.
“We’re Europe’s leading experts in mission critical communications expanding our TETRA networks with broadband,” explains Philip Vercruysse, the founder, chairman and CEO of Combonet Group. “All three companies, Combonet, ComBus and Entropia deliver diverse offerings but share the same passion, integrity and enthusiasm to connect human-to-human, human-to-machine, and machine-to-machine to create a safer, greener, more sustainable world where communities enjoy the highest quality of life.”
“ComBus’s advanced feature-rich broadband push-to-talk applications in combination with Combonet and Entropia will amplify your operations, safety, and efficiencies as they can be utilised on site via your own broadband and Wi-Fi installation, and when working remotely through access to the global 4G and 5G connectivity,” he adds. “Combining these elements facilitates continual coverage seamlessly.”
With iBASIS providing high-bandwidth global connectivity and redundant routes to multiple public networks in over 180 countries and more than 500 networks, multi-network SIM cards eliminate additional roaming charges for Combonet. The Combonet SIM cards dynamically identify and automatically connect to the strongest signal available to maintain connectivity if one or more providers fail, in conjunction with the Combonet platform and the ComBus application programme interface (API), both powered by Entropia.
As a result, the Entropia Group has now expanded its market reach from Entropia’s mission-critical services to include Combonet’s critical solutions, which can be accommodated via Wi-Fi 6e, 4G, and 5G broadband solutions, as well as integrated into the Entropia mission-critical TETRA networks. Benefits include lower costs with optimised deployments, with a single cloud-based management platform and a single point of contact within Combonet.
Private access point names (APN) and virtual private networks (VPNs) with Combonet and the ComBus data centre are used to add additional layers of security and iBASIS’s independent backbone network coverage, in addition to Simfony IoT and CMP features, enables Combonet’s wireless voice and data 4G/5G SIM and embedded SIM (eSIM) technologies to transform the way every team performs, regardless of industry or location, with missioncritical connectivity and global coverage.
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