In Norway, the telco will connect 1,000 sheep with NB-IoT while it will also deploy IoT solutions for luxury yachts in Finland
The Norwegian subsidiary of Swedish mobile telephony operator Telia Company has launched a pilot project where 1,000 sheep will be equipped with Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology.
Using NB-IoT-technology, Telia Norway and start-up Nortrace have equipped 1,000 sheep with collars with tracking modules that allows the farmer to monitor their position and well-being while they are on summer pasture in Rogaland, Norway.
“This is a great example of how new technology and IoT can help meet real needs,” says Jon Christian Hillestad, Head of Enterprise at Telia Norway. “Using NB-IoT for tracking purposes is one of the most important areas of IoT and 5G in the future. It can be used pretty much on everything that is mobile – animals, ships, containers and other means of transportation.”
“With such a big pilot we will get a pretty good picture of how the technology works and how it can be transferred to other applications,” Hillestad added. “NB-IoT opens an immense number of opportunities, and with the use of this technology and our platform, we can now connect multiple devices and develop exciting commercial solutions with partners.”
The product has been named Gjeteren (“The shepherd”) and is expected to be commercially available in the coming months.
In December 2016, Telia Norway launched a smart farming service that provides farmers with a smart system for monitoring irrigation systems.
In related news, Telia Company has signed an agreement with luxury yacht manufacturer Baltic Yachts for the development of internet of things and data solutions.
“The internet of things is quickly conquering the waters, too. In addition, virtual reality will improve the security in the near future in the most modern luxury yachts”, said Milla Virén, Director of Sales at Telia Finland.
Currently, Baltic Yachts is using Telia’s voice and data solutions for maintenance and troubleshooting. “We can have our team on site within two to three days of the fault notice. The yacht can be located in the Caribbean, in the Indian Ocean or anywhere. Data makes it fast to perform troubleshooting. In the future, we will also be able to help a crew in trouble remotely by means of the new technology,” said Sasha Laitinen, Financial Director at Baltic Yachts.
