Vodafone is making innovations in its Internet of Things (IoT) products and solutions to attract new enterprise customers and create new use cases.
Vodafone Group earlier said it has grabbed nearly 60 million plus IoT connections globally. Vodafone Group generated €367 million revenue from IoT business in the first six months of 2017. Vodafone achieved 12.7 percent growth in IoT, primarily driven by 36 percent increase in SIM connections.
A 4.1 percent dip in global revenue of Vodafone Group prompts the telecom giant to come out of super innovations in new business areas including IoT.
Last week, Vodafone Group announced the launch of its IoT solution for consumers as well. Its new dedicated IoT V-Sim by Vodafone will enable consumers to connect both Vodafone branded and third party electronics products to Vodafone’s global IoT network.
Vodafone India says its all-India 2G network will support the IoT initiatives and it does not need a pan-India 3G or 4G network. 5G has the potential to boost IoT business of operators. Vodafone has recently conducted 5G trials in Italy.
Vodafone India is in the process of finalizing a big IoT deal with an ice-cream company to enhance the sale of ice-cream products. Vodafone India has completed a IoT pilot project with the consumer products company.
SuperIoT in India
Nick Gliddon, director, Vodafone Business Services, announced the launch of SuperIoT at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2017 in Goa, India.
Vodafone, one of the leaders in IoT, has worked with enterprises across industry verticals such as automotive, utilities, manufacturing, banking and logistics on their IoT deployments.
The market for IoT in India is expected to reach $9 billion by 2020.
Vodafone said its SuperIoT comprises IoT solutions like Vehicle Tracking, Asset Tracking (Fixed and Mobile) and People Tracking (School Students and Employees).It is an industry-first solution that enables end-to-end management of device, application, connectivity, service platform, support and security.
The company is giving IoT solution in a simple Opex or pay for service model. This means, enterprises in India need not worry about the Capex related challenges when they go for IoT investment.
“The launch of SuperIoT enterprises will enable enterprises to free themselves from the complexities and hassles of the IoT deployment process. This will be able to focus on business outcomes and accelerate their digital transformation by truly harnessing the power of IoT, driving innovation and growth,” Nick Gliddon said.
With SuperIoT, enterprises do not have to face the challenges of managing multiple suppliers and service providers. They can benefit from rapid application development, device management and analytics with the Application Enablement platform. They can also have better manageability and control of their assets through Managed Connectivity.
Vodafone’s 5th Annual IoT Barometer Report says 81 percent of Indian organizations feel IoT is key to digital transformation. Enterprises face problems when it comes to identifying and deploying the right IoT solution because the marketplace is filled with multiple vendors and multiple platforms.
“SuperIoT brings together all aspects of IoT, covering all the layers from device, application, and managed connectivity to in-life support,” Anil Joseph Philip, SVP – enterprise product management at Vodafone India.
Vodafone SuperIoT
Vehicle Tracking is a cost-effective solution that allows customers to have real-time visibility of their fleet, monitor vehicle condition, receive alerts about faulty vehicles, reduce unplanned vehicle downtime and help maintain asset value, thus reducing overall operational costs, ensuring safety and improving customer satisfaction.
Mobile Asset Tracking solution assists customers to transform supply chain and logistics operations, and deliver goods faster with more operational efficiency. It enables them to track the location and status of their assets, be it healthcare equipment, building materials, construction equipment, etc. thus enabling effective management of business.
Sales Generating assets transform sales-generating assets into smart, connected assets to capture important data such as location alerts, motion detection, operational status, estimated stock levels and usage, etc. and deliver useful business insights for decision making and overall operations.
Diesel generator monitoring solution enables you to monitor the total diesel consumption, energy output, load and kWh/litre ratio and much more, to improve the performance of generator, while reducing cost.
Vodafone’s People Tracking solution combines RFID + GPS + GPRS enabled ID cards and wearables along with emergency call facilities to a central Emergency Response Team to protect resources in work places.
Student Safety Solution for schools assists parents, school authorities and school bus transport managers to keep track of their school children’s location through RFID + GPS + GPRS enabled ID cards and bus & campus readers, integrated with vehicle tracking and camera facilities.
Baburajan K reporting from Goa
