Tele2 AB (Tele2) and the Dutch company Aerea today announced that they are entering into a Machine-to-Machine/Internet of Things (M2M/IoT) partnership in the Netherlands, thereby broadening their connectivity portfolios.
The partnership enables IoT services to also be provided over the low-cost, energy-efficient SIGFOX global network, which complements 2G/3G and 4G solutions. This solution eliminates cost and energy-use barriers to wide implementation of IoT solutions by providing small-message communication and greatly extending the battery and service life of connected devices.
Tele2 M2M Global Solutions has now added Aerea to its already significant partner eco-system. Aerea is the exclusive SIGFOX network operator for the Netherlands and already covers 85 percent of the country.
Other Tele2 M2M partners can benefit from this as they now have direct access to both SIGFOX and cellular M2M solutions, and their customers will benefit through the offering of integrated SIGFOX/cellular M2M connectivity solutions.
The combined strength of these technologies will also be very attractive to system integrators that develop broad end-to-end solutions, for example in infrastructure and smart city developments. The SIGFOX network has extremely low deployment and maintenance costs and is a global and open ecosystem out of the box. Moreover, the use of Ultra Narrow Band technology delivers a very high capacity compared to systems that rely on other types of radio communication.
Rami Avidan, Commercial Director M2M, Tele2 AB, comments:
“The ability to offer this integrated solution puts us in an even stronger position in the Netherlands. Tele2 recognizes the SIGFOX technology to be complementary to cellular M2M connectivity solutions and we are proud to work together with Aerea and SIGFOX in the Netherlands. This new agreement gives me confidence in the Tele2 M2M partner strategy to develop real partnerships that offer added value to the IoT value chain, in collaboration with SIGFOX.”
Nicholas van Hoey Smith, CEO, Aerea, comments:
“Through superior SIGFOX technology with an open ecosystem and aggressive pricing, this partnership will enable us to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Dutch M2M and IoT markets. With Tele2, we have partnered to cover the segment that is in need of higher bandwidth requirements.”