Vodacom said its network was adding nearly 55,000 new IoT connections per month
South African telecom group Vodacom confirmed its narrowband internet of things network is now operational in Gauteng. The telco said the commercial rollout of NB-IoT is expected to accelerate internet of things adoption rates in South Africa, with Vodacom currently averaging 55,000 new IoT connections per month.
Earlier this year, Vodacom opened a laboratory to facilitate the development of propositions and applications relating to NB-IoT technology. The operator highlighted that many customers and partners have since been working closely with Vodacom to test NB-IoT at the lab.
In a statement Vodacom said developers, partners and customers are now able to build and launch Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) solutions based on its NB-IoT eco-system in South Africa.
“LPWA describes a category of wireless communication technologies designed to support IoT deployments and is seen as a catalyst for the next wave of connected ‘things’ as these networks can communicate with devices where radio infiltration has not previously been possible,” the company said.
“Vodacom is the first South African mobile network provider to announce the commercial availability of NB-IoT. We are ready to on-board customers, partners and developers who are in a position to deploy NB-IoT projects,” Deon Liebenberg, managing executive for the internet of things at Vodacom, said.
Liebenberg also said that the company’s goal is to create an ecosystem of developers, engineers and entrepreneurs for NB-IoT applications on the African continent.
In September, Vodacom announced that it already connects over three million M2M/IoT ‘things’ or devices.
Vodacom’s IoT division recently partnered with global technology solution provider PTC to implement a local version of its ThingWorx IoT platform. Vodacom said that this IoT enablement platform brings end-to-end capability in the value chain, allowing the development of new IoT applications and solutions.
