US electronics distributor Avnet is selling IoT modules ready-bundled with cellular IoT connectivity following a deal with international carrier services company BICS.
Avnet’s semiconductor division, Avnet Silica, is offering IoT modules with embedded 2G, 3G, 4G, NB-IoT, and LTE-M connectivity via BICS’ global embedded-SIM (eSIM) solution, called SIM for Things. It is targeting developers and device makers.
Customers will be able to connect their IoT devices to more than 700 mobile operators around the world, and switch networks depending on quality and coverage.
It is the first time Avnet has sold IoT modules embedded with dedicated cellular IoT SIM capabilities. BICS offers NB-IoT an d LTE-M connectivity in 30 countries worldwide.
Guillaume Crinon, global IoT strategy manager at Avnet, said: “Manufacturers can quickly benefit from NB-IoT/LTE-M technology, which lowers power consumption, eases provisioning, and creates new commercial opportunities.”
Cyrille Saulet, solution sales leader and eUICC manager at Avnet Silica, said: “The addition of LPWA network connectivity such as NB-IoT and LTE-M gives us a complete tool box to accelerate and expand IoT adoption, by being able to design smart and flexible connectivity solutions for our customers’ connected devices.”
Mikaël Schachne, chief marketing officer and vice president of mobility and IoT at BICS, said: “We have created a future-proof IoT-as-a-service offering, which will make mass IoT a reality in the coming years.”
BICS quoted a forecast from Gartner that there will be 5.8 billion enterprise and automotive IoT endpoints by the end of 2020, up 21 percent from 2019.
