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Soracom targets oil and gas, agriculture, supply chain with US-wide IoT data service

Soracom has introduced a new multi-carrier IoT service to cover the US market, piggybacking on the cellular networks of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The new data plan, called US-MAX, offers the “largest IoT coverage” in the US, plus automated-roaming between the three networks for best signal performance, said the Japan-based IoT MVNO. 

Soracom said its containerized multi-IMSI capability, compatible with eSIM and iSIM (eUICC and UICC) standards, makes the service available today as an over-the-air download to any device in North America with a Soracom IoT SIM. The service can be managed, along with data and devices, via the firm’s cloud management platform, said Soracom. Customers pay for the IoT data and services they use, without a long-term contract commitment.

Kenta Yasukawa, chief technology officer at Soracom, said: “Coverage is the key in IoT. Soracom serves as a technology partner to IoT innovators across North America, Europe, and Asia, and knows extensive coverage in specific countries can make or break a deployment… It is the right time for a [US] plan [that] you can download over-the-air to combine the greatest coverage with the most advanced connectivity platform.”

Soracom queued-up partners to proclaim the value to them of the new US-wide IoT plan. Andrew Jarman, chief technology officer at TOKU Systems, said: “Oil and gas customers count on TOKU to bring unprecedented remote visibility to tanks, wells, and pipelines across North America. Most of those installations are in remote locations, and we can’t afford to second-guess our connectivity. [This] gives us the [secure] coverage our customers need.”

Nicolas Gendron, director for IoT applications at agriculture-focused IoT firm Hortau, said: “Hortau empowers high-value crop growers… to optimize crop health and [yield] by… connecting the…crop-growing environment. With Soracom… our sensors remain seamlessly connected even in rural areas, while the Soracom platform ensures a secure and direct connection to our AWS VPC.”

ABOUT AUTHOR

James Blackman
James Blackman
James Blackman has been writing about the technology and telecoms sectors for over a decade. He has edited and contributed to a number of European news outlets and trade titles. He has also worked at telecoms company Huawei, leading media activity for its devices business in Western Europe. He is based in London.