Swiss security company Verisure has passed the five-million mark for Sigfox-enabled dual-connectivity Securitas Direct alarm systems, according to a social media post by Sigfox parent company Unabiz. The number covers just the Spanish market, where Verisure still prominently uses the Securitas Direct brand – as Securitas Direct by Verisure. The deal with Verisure is, by some margin, the biggest in Sigfox’s customer portfolio.
The new figure – “over five million devices activated in the field” – is a considerable advance on its last recorded (by RCR Wireless) running total, of around 2.9 million in 2019, some two-and-a-half years before Sigfox’s original French owner filed for bankruptcy and sold to Singapore-based IoT house Unabiz, in early 2022. The Verisure contract was a vital one for Unabiz to secure, and to reassure, on the back of the Sigfox acquisition.
In 2019, when it was worth around 2.9 million devices, the total Sigfox count stood at 6.7 million, said its previous owners at the time; as such Verisure single-handedly accounted for over 40 percent of its base. The Sigfox network in Spain is managed by Spain-based cellular infrastructure provider Cellnex Telecom, which also variously manages LoRaWAN and cellular IoT networks. The Securitas Direct deal has been extended into Portugal, also.
Sigfox has since signed key deals with French automotive manufacturer Groupe PSA, German courier company Deutsche Post DHL, and Japan-based utility Nippon Gas (NICIGAS); under Unabiz’s stewardship, its national operator firms have continued to add useful-looking IoT contracts in global markets. The total number of Sigfox devices currently in the field is not confirmed – but, invariably, it remains way off its speculative, and also infamous, 1B23 (a billion by 2023) forecast, set by the previous regime.
The long-term arrangement with Verisure, which dates back to near its beginning, is also the basis of its whole ‘0G’ branding strategy, where Sigfox is sold as a fallback (0G) technology to standard (2G/4G) cellular, or indeed ADSL lines, in hybrid systems – in the event the primary network supporting the alarm system fails, or is compromised by robbers with radio ‘jammers’. The Sigfox deal with Free Mobile in France works along similar lines, as a secure last-ditch connectivity link for set-top boxes in case of outages or interference.
Speaking with RCR Wireless late last year, reflecting on its purchase of Sigfox, Unabiz co-chief Chiu said Sigfox operators and partners are looking to install Sigox as a 0G fallback for connected vehicles. “Cars, for example, now come with cellular connectivity, for safety or infotainment systems. So why wouldn’t Sigfox follow the same trend, given some of its unique attributes such as resilience to jamming?” The company has said in these pages previously, also, that it has been pursuing opportunities with electronics makers to develop counterfeiting alarms.
Writing on LinkedIn last week, Unabiz stated: “Felicidades! Securitas Direct by Verisure on over five million devices activated in the field with Unabiz Spain with Sigfox technology.” Apparently, Unabiz presented Verisure with a ‘Golden Alarm Award’ at a partner event in Madrid. The firm signed off the note with the remark: “Unified LPWAN World – here we come.”