SIGFOX, a provider of global communications service for the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Irish telecoms provider VT Networks announced the nationwide availability of the SIGFOX low-power and cost-effective IoT connectivity – less than eight months after network deployment began.
After France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Ireland is the sixth European country to complete full SIGFOX network coverage. As the national SIGFOX Network Operator, VT Networks provides seamless connectivity, clear subscription-based pricing and guaranteed service-level agreements to Irish customers.
As a strong sign of the country’s eagerness to adopt disruptive technologies, Irish businesses are quickly installing new IoT solutions to take advantage of the network. Solutions include:
- Smart metering, specifically water-metering with leak detection capability
- Building and home security systems that are much harder to jam than current cellular solutions
- Smart smoke alarms which alert residents through an application, avoiding losses due to faulty devices
- Tracking and recovery of stolen farm assets
- Sensor devices on gates that alert farmers when an intruder has opened them during pre-defined periods
- Machine monitoring telemetry devices.
“Irish businesses and farmers have been quick to understand the benefits that the SIGFOX dedicated IoT network provides,” said Mark Bannon, CEO of VT Networks. “We are excited to see this growing level of interest, and look forward to launching programs that further integrate the network throughout the country.”
The two companies expect to connect over 1 million devices by 2017.
“The founders of VT Networks are visionary, experienced communications executives and they are bringing an entrepreneurial approach to implementing IoT connectivity in every sector of Ireland,” said Rodolphe Baronnet-Frugès, SIGFOX executive vice president of networks and operators. “We expect their experiences in Ireland will set an example for other countries as SIGFOX continues its worldwide expansion.”
VT Networks is launching numerous programs to speed development of the IoT eco-system in Ireland. Earlier this year, the company held a “SIGFOX Makers tour” in Dublin, a workshop organised all around Europe in which developers, makers and IoT startups received hands-on experience with prototyping boards and the SIGFOX network to develop new applications. VT Networks will run a similar event with one of Europe’s largest semiconductor distributors EBV Elektronik, on the 5th of July in Dublin.
Another initiative will see the National University of Ireland in Maynooth be the first university in Ireland to setup a VT Networks’ IoT academic program, in which computer science students will receive free hardware, SIGFOX subscriptions and licenses to SIGFOX Ready™ IoT platforms.
Registering more than 7 million devices in its network with a footprint on all continents, SIGFOX is rapidly establishing one global, seamless network that provides simple, ubiquitous, energy-efficient connectivity for billions of connected devices that will make up the vast majority of the IoT. In the past 12 months alone, SIGFOX has added 15 countries to its global coverage map and plans to be in more than 30 countries by year- end.
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