Sigfox has said it will boost its so-called 0G network infrastructure six-fold in terms of capacity and features to serve as a cellular back-up network for an expanding customer base. It has also extended a key deal with Securitas Direct into Portugal.
Sigfox said the deals show “massive IoT adoption is upon us”. Cellnex Telecom, the infrastructure provider in the deal, called it a “turning point in the IoT connectivity”.
Cellnex Telecom will “multiply by six” the current capacity of Sigfox’s 0G network, said the France-based firm. This will enable transmission of images and audio messages, and also optimise the “reception of broadcast messages in motion”. Cellnex Telecom will also extend Sigfox coverage into Portugal, to essentially piggyback on its Spanish network.
The pair have also “renewed and extended” their network backup contract with Securitas Direct, which has delivered around 2.9 million connections to Sigfox, out of a of total base of arlound 6.7 million. Sigfox Direct provides a reliable backup network to Securitas in Spain and France already, in case its ADSL and 3G connections are compromised.
Securitas Direct said the deal will enable it to increase the reach, coverage and capacity of its alarm transmission network). It will also expand the types of devices and services it connect with Sigfox, it said. The contract between the firms is set at 15 years, with an initial six-year period followed by a nine-year extension.
Albert Cuatrecasas, chief executive of Cellnex España, said: “The expansion of the capacity of the IoT network with Sigfox and the agreement signed with Securitas Direct are a turning point in the IoT connectivity services we have been providing since 2015, when we deployed the first internet-oriented network of things in Spain with national coverage of 95 per cent of the population.”
Cuatrecasas added: “There are currently more than two million devices already connected and using the IoT network with Sigfox in Spain daily, providing security services, remote monitoring of electricity consumption, water telemetry, waste management, tracking of materials, smart parking, energy efficiency and risk prevention in homes, among others. As we extend this coverage to Portugal, we will have networks with more and better features in both countries, and we will increase the amount of connected objects.”
Cristina Rivas, technology director at Securitas Direct, said: “With this agreement, we renew our commitment to Sigfox as an alternative channel to current networks, which offers us a unique and differential security service to our customers. The main advantage is we have an additional communication channel and unique anti-inhibition capabilities, critical in our service and not available through traditional operators’ networks.”
Rebecca Crowe, general manager for Sigfox Spain, said: “This renewal of trust is further proof, if necessary, that our 0G network is a reliable alternative service of communication for security devices, but also that massive IoT adoption is upon us. One of our goals at Sigfox is to promote the 0G network as a safety public network that could act, in this specific case, as a back-up channel in case the main communication links fail, or in cases where a network goes down after an incident or malicious act.”
Sigfox has set an aggressive target of one billion connections by 2023. Its 0G strategy is a key part of its calculation.
Cellnex Telecom has 45,000 sites in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
