French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom unveils Objenious, its subsidiary dedicated to the Internet of Things

French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom unveils Objenious, its subsidiary dedicated to the Internet of Things

Bouygues Telecom is strengthening its position in the Internet of Things with the creation of a dedicated subsidiary, Objenious, headed by Stéphane Allaire with a team of around 20 employees.

Objenious will exploit the LoRa® network, currently being rolled out by Bouygues Telecom and that will ultimately connect millions of objects. The network has already been rolled out in 15 of France’s biggest towns and cities. It will cover 50% of the French population by mid-2016 and will cover the entirety by the end of the year with 4,000 base stations.

The creation of Objenious underlines Bouygues Telecom’s commitment to developing an activity that covers every segment of the Internet of Things value chain:

  • By developing sensors adapted to the needs of its customers, with partners like nke Watteco, Eolane or even Finsécur, a provider of fire safety solutions;
  • By giving access to connectivity that benefits from all the advantages of LoRa technology (geolocation, indoor penetration, two-way communication);
  • By offering data management via the cloud-based IoT Platform solution from Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE IoT Platform) that enables data to be stored, pre-processed, acquired and viewed according to industry standards. The KMS security solution, supplied by Bull (the technological brand of Atos), guarantees encryption of this data from the sensors right up to the customer servers that process it. Sagemcom supplies the entire radio communications part as well as the network core.
  • By embracing open innovation and by integrating business applications being developed by the growing number of innovative start-ups that are joining the Objenious ecosystem. Examples include Energisme, a specialist in building energy management, and Abeeway, a specialist in long-life on-board geolocation systems. Abeeway is able to make any object connected, from entire fleets of equipment to the tools used in everyday life. They have already developed applications that are being used by the subsidiary’s first customers.
  • The flexibility and expertise of Objenious ensures that each project will provide the most suitable offer in conjunction with the best partners and the necessary technological
    building blocks.

Stéphane Allaire, Chairman of Objenious, says:

“We have signed partnerships with some of France’s leading IoT players. Major industrial groups of course, but also start-ups that are making their mark, either in sensors or business applications. We have thus become a key player based on a national LoRa network and an IoT platform that is now ready to host our customers.”

Over the next few weeks, Objenious will unveil a catalogue of B2B and B2B2C services that address a number of identified needs, ranging from vehicle fleet management, remote meter reading, predictive maintenance and geolocation.

Several customers have already chosen Objenious to help them discover the world of opportunity opened up by the Internet of Things.
The French start-up Wistiki will soon offer a range of LoRa-based connected devices that enable the geolocation of essential day-to-day objects (keys, smartphones, wallets, baggage) but also pets (using connected collars).

Ecotextile, a specialist in the collection of used clothes, will use Objenious to optimise collections from its voluntary drop-off points, with the first deployment planned for Issy-les-Moulineaux, just south of Paris, which is covered by Bouygues Telecom’s LoRa network.

Under the impetus of its Chamber of Agriculture and local authority, the Eure-et-Loir department will get full LoRa coverage. Farmers, local authorities and companies will thus be able to connect a large number of sensors for uses linked not only to agriculture (weather data, monitoring of vat levels) but also to the Smart City.

Finally, JCDecaux used COP21 to test the geolocation of a fleet of e-VLS: in front of Paris City Hall, the public were able to try out electric self-service bikes with portable batteries fitted with position sensors connected via LoRa, in partnership with the start-up Connected Cycle.

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