Low-power wide-area (LPWA) network provider SenRa has struck a deal with location and tracking company PNI Sensor to bring LoRaWAN based smart parking to India. It is the latest in a number of major LoRaWAN deployments in Asia Pacific region, covering also smart city projects in Thailand, the Philippines and Australia.
The pair will use SenRa’s LoRaWAN network and PNI’s PlacePod parking sensor, which features a magnetic sensor to detect the presence of cars in parking spaces. The number of vehicles in India is set to grow at 11 per cent per year over the next five years. Currently, a lack of resources means many of the country’s parking systems go unmonitored, leading to traffic congestion in its cities.
SenRa said its sensor solution can be easily mounted in the ground, and is unaffected by changes in weather. It will be deployed by city authorities, including parking authorities and city planners, as well as residential groups and universities, it said.
SenRa chief executive Ali Hosseini said: “PNI is one of the first companies in the LoRaWAN ecosystem to deploy smart parking solutions across the globe. We are very excited to have the opportunity to bring their technology to India.”
Meanwhile, among the latest LoRaWAN rollouts, Thailand based telecoms provider CAT Telecom has selected Actility to deploy a national LPWA network in the country, based on its ThingPark platform. Local system integrator Teo Hong Silom Group is also involved.
The project, part of the country’s ‘Thailand 4.0’ agenda, starts with smart city solutions for the city of Phuket. The Phukety findings will be used as part of CAT Telecom’s smart cities projects in 18 provinces across Thailand, including the Bangkok region.
CAT Telecom president Sanpachai Huvanandana said: “The key factors in developing true smart cities, such as we are pioneering with the city of Phuket, are infrastructure and services. These smart services will include smart metering, smart buildings, smart lighting, smart parking, smart farming, smart logistics and smart tourism.”
CAT Telecom has also launched a LoRaWAN platform to help the commercial sector to develop industrial IoT services. It is testing a tracking service combining GPS and IoT communications enabling cars, motorbikes, dump trucks and coaches to be tracked across the province.
In Phuket, the service is supporting tourism as well, with a speed-boat businesses deploying trackers on boats and in wristbands to ensure the customers’ safety, and a number of mobile applications besides to inform tourists about deals and attractions, and direct them to sundry tourist spots.
Huvanandana said tourist data will combined in a big data platform in Phuket to be made available to business owners and the city administration. “They will be able to perform deep analysis of consumer behaviour, and also improve the quality of life and the safety of the local citizens, improve all aspects of city management in all aspects and make Phuket a world class smart city,” he said.
Elsewhere, IoT company Packetworx has rolled out a regional LoRaWAN network in the Philippines and southeast Asia, managed by the Netherlands-based LoRaWAN start-up community The Things Network (TTN).
Innovators in the region can now develop and deploy IoT solutions on a secure network with over 4,100 gateways connected globally, said TTN. Collaboration and learning will be accelerated with resources and events.
Packetworx chief Arnold Bagabaldo said: “We’d like to encourage Filipinos especially our young innovators, makers, and enthusiasts to create and develop their own IoT solutions. Our collaboration with TTN makes onboarding of IoT devices, applications, and solutions easier than ever.
TTN co-founder Wienke Giezeman commented: “The partnership wbrings forward many new use cases along with the adoption of LoRaWAN technology across the region. With such high interest coming in from the region, TTN will gain a strong presence in Asia and we look forward to expanding the network with the ecosystem further.
Separately, Australian LoRaWAN carrier NNNCo has presented multiple smart city use cases to a delegation of local and state city leaders using a brand new LoRaWAN network in Newcastle, in Australia, two months after installation plans were first announced by the city council.
Use cases included solutions for waste management, parking, water metering, and soil moisture sensing. A smart tracking solution that will enable asset tracking, people movement, cold food chain, logistics and transport has also been piloted.
Katherine O’Regan, executive director of the Cities Leadership Institute, commented: “The narrowband network forms an integral part of the City’s fabric and future, and the collaboration between the Council and NNNCo is critical to delivering for the people of Newcastle.”
NNNCo founder and chief Rob Zagarella, said: “It shows we’re not only ready to provide the network access, but also to rapidly deploy and scale solutions for cities. This is about establishing the IoT fabric for cities and very quickly turning on solutions that will improve city efficiencies, sustainability and liveability.”
