Enterprise IoT Insights rarely reports on executive appointments, but this one is apposite in light of the cellular IoT market’s grab for scale in late 2021, and the good work by virtual IoT operators to show it the way. Germany-based IoT provider 1NCE, which was among the first to flat-rate cellular IoT roaming fees, has recruited Ivo Rook, once of Vodafone in the UK and T-Mobile in the US, as its new chief operating officer.
It is a high profile appointment for the Cologne-based firm, whose flat-rate IoT tariff has been aped variously by the rest of the market, including increasingly by tier-one mobile operators, which have fumbled over NB-IoT and LTE-M inter-network charging for some years. By flat-rating such IoT fees, the likes of 1NCE, as well as Belgium-based BICS and UK-based Arkessa, have squared and simplified cellular IoT for roaming and tracking of assets.
Rook has served previously as chief executive officer for IoT at Vodafone, senior vice president at T-Mobile / Sprint, and liaison officer for SoftBank Group. In light of the appointment, 1NCE talked up its position as “one of the fastest-growing IoT solutions providers”, offering cellular IoT connectivity via a roaming deals in “more than” 100 countries, and talking a good game with a $50 million injection from SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom in September.
1NCE offers international connectivity, variously, on all-generations of mobile, from 2G-through-5G, plus NB-IoT and LTE-M, the twin cellular standards supposed to drive the ‘massive IoT’ movement as a third plank in the grand 5G vision, effectively – or massive machine-type comms (mMMTC), alongside general-purpose enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) and ultra-reliable low-latency (URLLC) Industry 4.0-style comms.
Rook, based in New York, is to execute 1NCE’s expansion plans in the US and Asia. He will work with the technology team to develop “the next level in IoT software”, according to a press statement. Alexander Sator, chief executive at 1NCE, said: “Ivo is a true thought leader and has been at the forefront of IoT since it first hit the market. His experience and leadership are unparalleled, and we’re thrilled to have him lead us towards our global goals.”
Rook commented: “More than 70 percent of all IoT projects have international requirements, and 1NCE is well suited to serve these global customers with integration of multiple networks and bearers. A cloud-native IoT software platform with in-house development, industry-leading pricing, and partners like Deutsche Telekom and AWS all add up to the perfect combination for IoT applications.”
