Category: Internet of Things

Field Solutions Group: The Rural Telco Tier 1s Should Keep an Eye On

by Malcolm Rogers, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network
M. Rogers

Summary Bullets:

  • FSG, a telco focused only on regional and rural Australia, is set to become Australia’s fourth MNO in 2022 as it builds out a 200-plus tower network.
  • The company has valuable spectrum assets, a unique neutral host approach, and a focus on critical verticals to become a threat in the enterprise 5G market in rural areas.

A little-known, fledgling telecom company called Field Solutions Group (FSG) has quietly become Australia’s fourth mobile network operator.  The company, which focuses specifically on providing FWA, NBN, and mobile services to regional and rural Australian businesses and government organizations, has an ambitious plan to build out more than 200 mobile towers in regional and rural Australia by 2023.  Currently, the company only offers FWA on its ‘Regional Australia Network,’ but through government grants from the Mobile Blackspot Program, technology partnerships with Optus, and the recent acquisition of Tasmanet, the company hopes to be a disruptive fourth MNO option for regional and rural governments and businesses.  While the company is small, earning AUD 18.8 million in FY 2021 (ended June 30, 2021), the company has a few things working in its favor that could enable it to become a real challenger to the largest telcos when competing for business and enterprise 5G revenues in rural and regional Australia over the coming years. Continue reading “Field Solutions Group: The Rural Telco Tier 1s Should Keep an Eye On” →

ASEAN 5G Q3 2021 Roundup: Competition Heats Up

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • The domestic competitions across ASEAN are heating up as providers are moving from network deployment to the solution development stage.
  • Leading providers are starting to commercialize their edge computing services and gain a first-mover advantage.

The enterprise 5G market in ASEAN is moving from network deployment to the solution development stage, led by early adopters such as the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.  Most telcos in these countries such as Globe, PLDT, M1, Singtel, Starhub, and AIS have enabled 5G standalone (SA) networks to support a wider range of enterprises applications through edge integration, lower latency, and network slicing.  The competition at the country level is also heating up, as providers are beginning to commercialize the solutions they have been developing through industry collaborations.  This includes Singtel’s edge computing and AIS’ 5G smart manufacturing solutions.  Service providers are also expanding their collaboration initiatives with enterprises from across verticals and are expected to launch more applications in the market in the near term.  AIS and Globe are Singtel’s associates; hence, the three providers could also gain an advantage in 5G solution development in their respective markets through knowledge and partner sharing. Continue reading “ASEAN 5G Q3 2021 Roundup: Competition Heats Up” →

Enterprise IoT Platforms Evolve with New Edge and Analytics Enhancements

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Internet of Things

Summary Bullets:

Kathryn Weldon – Research Director, Business Network and IT Services – Americas

• Microsoft and AWS were named “Very Strong” in GlobalData’s most recent Enterprise IoT Platform report published in September 2021. In the last six months, both vendors announced several key platform enhancements.

• New tools for access control, edge computing, visualization, and digital twins improved these vendors’ IoT portfolios. Microsoft’s new role as a board member in the LoRa Alliance was also a significant ecosystem addition.

Enterprise IoT platforms transform data collected from devices and machines to help customers build applications that automate processes, improve products, and help business leaders make decisions. Once data is collected, the platform provides data storage, processing, management, and manipulation along with filtering and visualization options. The platform may send data to an edge computing device, public or private cloud, or remote data center for further processing and analytics. An enterprise IoT platform also provides tools for application enablement; elements may include visual application modelling, design tools, processing rules using business logic, security and access management, reporting, and real-time or historical analytics.

Continue reading “Enterprise IoT Platforms Evolve with New Edge and Analytics Enhancements” →

Vodafone’s Data Analytics Update: Clear Traction as Focus Moves to Executing on Strategy

by John Marcus, posted in Big Data, Internet of Things

J. Marcus

Summary Bullets:

  • Vodafone’s data analytics strategy continues to focus on both internal and external opportunities to harvest data (including aggregated, anonymized customer data) for increased efficiency and monetization.
  • Its update briefing for analysts was notable more about its progress in the latter.

Vodafone provided an update to analysts on its big data and advanced analytics activities, which are focused both on internal data optimization for Vodafone’s own business outcomes and on external data for use in products and solutions.  The briefing also included three demos: an internal solution for intelligent pricing as well as customer solutions for visitor traffic analytics and IoT connectivity analytics. Continue reading “Vodafone’s Data Analytics Update: Clear Traction as Focus Moves to Executing on Strategy” →

Connected Technology and Data Are Part of the Solution for Environmental Sustainability

by Dustin Kehoe, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network, Secure

D. Kehoe

Summary Bullets:

  • ICT contributes to a carbon footprint, but stats alone do not provide the full picture.
  • The industry is setting its own goals, but also enabling so many other sectors to be greener.
  • In the past two years, technology really kept us connected in the most challenging times.

GlobalData’s thematic research shows sustainability is one of the most important themes discussed in corporate boardrooms.  While previous decades have witnessed environmental movements, the current wave is unprecedented.  Each headline-grabbing event reinforces public opinion that companies must become more sustainable.  Sustainability is being reported in annual reports and established into corporate strategy.  Over the coming decade, the issue will further transform the way that business is conducted and extend across the supply chain.  Companies that take sustainability seriously now will be better placed to succeed, and technology will be part of the solution. Continue reading “Connected Technology and Data Are Part of the Solution for Environmental Sustainability” →

Robot Farmers Will Require 5G, but Agriculture Is Already Getting Smart with IoT

by John Marcus, posted in Big Data, Internet of Things

J. Marcus

Summary Bullets:

  • IoT is reducing costs, eliminating waste, and improving quality across the agriculture sector.
  • The next step is automation, with 5G-enabled robots in Sweden poised to get their hands dirty in the field.

There is now an autonomous ‘field robot’ which can pull weeds faster – and presumably more accurately – than any farmworker, at least according to Ekobot AB’s ‘precision agriculture’ tagline.  The smart agriculture approach, which utilizes artificial intelligence, automation, and the public 5G network, should reduce costs and improve performance of the farm.  Ekobot’s mission is to be able to offer practical and sustainable solutions to agricultural issues while reducing workloads with autonomous tools for vegetable farmers. Continue reading “Robot Farmers Will Require 5G, but Agriculture Is Already Getting Smart with IoT” →

5G War Begins Again in Malaysia as Launch Nears

by Alfie Amir, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Service providers are picking up their pace again in developing 5G capabilities.
  • Solution co-creation is key not just in building solution capabilities but also in driving brand share.

Early Pace of 5G in Malaysia

Malaysia had an early start with 5G.  The race between service providers began in mid-2019 when Celcom launched the country’s first live 5G cluster trial that enabled various use cases across multiple verticals (for more, please see “Celcom Leads the 5G Race in Malaysia with 5G Live Cluster Field Trial,” July 29, 2019).  This was only a few months after the launch of the very first commercial 5G network in the world.  Not long after that, Maxis announced a partnership with Huawei to deploy 5G and develop use cases, Digi partnered with Cyberview on the 5G OpenLab to co-create 5G smart city applications, and TM shared its plan to be the first provider to offer 5G standalone (SA) network.  The government, MCMC, also played key roles in driving the technology development in the country.  It established a 5G task force in December 2018, hosted a 5G event in April 2019, collaborated with telcos and other industry players to launch 55 use cases across 32 locations (5GDP), and planned for commercial availability of the technology in the first half of 2020 (for more, please see “5G Enterprise in Malaysia: Strong Push by the Government Despite Low Market Maturity,” October 17, 2019).  It was ahead of many other countries in the region. Continue reading “5G War Begins Again in Malaysia as Launch Nears” →

Analytics in ASEAN: Low Awareness and Adoption, but Bright Outlook

by Alfie Amir, posted in Big Data, Internet of Things, IT Leader

A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Awareness and adoption of enterprise analytics are still low in ASEAN.
  • There is a strong outlook in the near to midterm driven by digital transformation.

Low Awareness and Adoption

A GlobalData study with 158 ICT decision-makers in ASEAN shows very low awareness and adoption around analytics in the region.  The study reveals that only 23% of enterprises see analytics as very important criteria when considering new IoT solutions, 22% in cloud, 18% in unified communications, and 17% in cybersecurity.  Analytics was also among the least important criteria for respective solutions.  This shows that while most enterprises understand the general benefits of analytics (e.g., turning data into insights), many are still unable to relate analytics to their business objectives. Continue reading “Analytics in ASEAN: Low Awareness and Adoption, but Bright Outlook” →

IoT and Environmental Sustainability Can Come Together to Protect the Planet

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Internet of Things

K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives have become important marketing tools and proof points of credibility for enterprise IT and communication services providers. Providers also hope to leverage these initiatives as revenue generators.
  • While IoT contributes solutions to help with many ESG concerns, its role in measuring, monitoring, and control of environmental conditions and parameters is particularly relevant. IoT service providers should continue to develop and extend these capabilities to position themselves as worthy stewards of the planet.

ESG has never been as important as it is today, at a time when our health continues to be threatened by a global pandemic and the world faces drastic disruption due to climate change.  Service providers that offer IoT solutions, as well as their network equipment and software vendor partners, are adding ESG messaging into many of their offerings, as each is intent on proving its worth as contributors to the common good.  While the ‘S’ and ‘G’ aspects of solutions are extremely important, the environmental contributions should be especially key to the positioning of service providers that may still struggle to monetize their IoT portfolios.  This is because measuring, monitoring, and control of environmental parameters have always comprised a key benefit and use-case driver for IoT.  Some of the many types of IoT use cases that contribute to environmental ‘health’ include: Continue reading “IoT and Environmental Sustainability Can Come Together to Protect the Planet” →

IT Service Providers Play a Key Role in Ensuring Successful IoT Deployments

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Internet of Things

K. Weldon
K. Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • The role of IT services providers in offering IoT solutions to enterprises is important for delivering successful engagements that might otherwise have been thwarted by ecosystem fragmentation and complexity.
  • GlobalData’s August 2021 report on IT service provider IoT solutions highlights vendors that have developed unique portfolios and end-to-end solutions that can break through enterprise skepticism and reduce worry.

The fragmentation of the supplier ecosystem has long been a barrier to adoption of IoT, as enterprises are often confused, frustrated, and worried about having to separately negotiate, pay for, and manage connectivity, devices, security solutions, management platforms, and vertical solutions from multiple suppliers. The central role of IT services providers (ITSPs) in making IoT and other complex technologies easier to use while simultaneously helping to solve business problems is to offer a one-stop shop.  This approach combines the ITSP’s own and third-party partner solutions, while adding advisory, integration, professional and managed services, and end-to-end vertical solutions. Continue reading “IT Service Providers Play a Key Role in Ensuring Successful IoT Deployments” →