Czech cloud service provider CRA has taken a LoRaWAN operator platform from Swedish firm Netmore Group to expand IoT services to water and gas utilities and real estate management firms in the Czech Republic. The platform-as-a-service product from Netmore, which is in the process of hoovering-up fragmented regional LoRaWAN operators into a mish-mash global LoRaWAN network operation, provides a management suite for CRA to standardise and scale its LoRaWAN network, as well as network monitoring tools and technical support.
In October, Netmore acquired Dutch operator Everynet, a key historical player in the LoRaWAN narrative, for an undisclosed fee. The move further cements Netmore Group’s position as the most ambitious and acquisitive outfit in the non-cellular IoT market, having snapped-up US-based LoRaWAN operator and platform provider Senet at the start of 2024, opened-up a local presence in the Asia Pacific region, and signed-up various regional LoRaWAN providers on franchise-style deals via its platform-as-a-service product (acquired from Senet).
Everynet operates on four continents; the deal strengthens Netmore’s existing operations in the US, UK, Spain, and Ireland, and “opens new markets and customer opportunities” in Brazil, Italy, Indonesia, Andorra, and Iceland. In sum, it expands Netmore’s “direct presence” to 17 countries – thereby “positioning the company as the top LoRaWAN operator in the world”, it said. Netmore also picked up public LoRaWAN network assets belonging to Bouygues Telecom, trading under the Objenious brand, in France at the end of 2023.
CRA’s LoRaWAN network already covers 80 percent of the Czech population. It has its own platform, called IoT Cloud, for “standardizing the processing and integration of connected device data”. A statement said CRA’s IoT customer base is complementary to Netmore’s focus on smart metering, water management, environmental monitoring, and building automation. The pair will focus on knowledge sharing to optimize network performance, they said. They will run pre-rollout device testing, and establish “strategic joint partnerships” in key industries.
Petr Mozis, chief commercial officer at CRA, said: “As LoRaWAN continues to grow as a preferred technology for connecting IoT applications, we need a platform capable of delivering operational value today and with the capacity to scale to support the digital transformation needs of Czech utilities and enterprise organizations far into the future. In addition to robust network and device management features, Netmore’s Operator PaaS platform offers shared efficiencies, cost advantages, and scalability that will allow us to support domestic customers and expand into countries where Netmore and its partners operate LoRaWAN networks.”
Andreas Stenhager, chief commercial officer at Netmore Group, said: “CRA’s deep IoT expertise, technical capabilities, and established position in the Czech Republic make them an ideal partner for Netmore. We are pleased to have CRA join our Operator PaaS ecosystem, and we are committed to delivering scalable, reliable IoT connectivity to support innovation throughout the Czech Republic. We look forward to collaborating with CRA to help its domestic and cross-border customers gain new insights from their IoT data to drive automation and sustainability initiatives forward.”
Netmore, majority-owned by Nordic infrastructure investor Polar Structure, announced a deal with the UK arm of Spanish tower company Cellnex in October to install LoRaWAN gateways on around 200 street poles for the delivery of low-power wide-area IoT network (LPWAN) coverage. Netmore has a major deal with Yorkshire Water to exchange 1.3 million water meters in one of Europe’s largest LoRaWAN water metering projects. Yorkshire Water reckons IoT-connected smart meters have so far seen leakage in the region reduce by 500,000 litres.
