MAY 21st, 2015 – Yesterday IoT experts from Ooredoo, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor and the GSMA discussed the role of operators in the IoT, in a Fierce Wireless and GSMA collaborative webinar.
Stefano Nicoletti, M2M Regulatory Manager, Connected Living, GSMA, was the first to talk of the massive growth potential of the IoT and the need to promote its social and economic advantages. He referenced a recent PwC report that found mobile operators will be fundamental to the enabling the IoT. Four of the contributors to this report subsequently presented their IoT solutions.
Robert Brunbäck, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Connexion, demonstrated how IoT is enabling new revenue opportunities across a range of verticals. Data is becoming a vital component of the IoT, allowing companies to gain insights in real time and learning how to turn that data into meaningful actions and value-added services.
It was his view that many businesses entering into the IoT are undergoing a big shift in behaviour by opening up to cross-industry partnerships: ‘Those companies that know how to transform will have a definite advantage’.
Lynne Dorward, Executive Director, Group Regulatory Affairs, Ooredoo, Spoke of how the operator’s mobile IoT education project has enriched the lives of many in Palestine who did not have the means to access traditional teaching. Due to its success, the project has now been rolled out in Myanmar where a myriad people can now access educational tools because of its low cost.
Jorge Morillo, Regulatory Affairs Senior Manager, Telefonica, called for a policymakers to adopt a light and flexible regulatory approach in order to accommodate the IoT’s rapid growth. Nonetheless, policy makers are increasingly supportive of IoT projects. For example, the EU recently helped to fund an IoT initiative in Santander, Spain, in which 20,000 IoT devices were connected in the city across a range of verticals including healthcare services, security and waste management. This exceeded the European Commission’s expectations and was so successful that Telefonica is undergoing deployments in Valencia and in the Sao Paolo region.
Agata Basile, Product Manager, Telecom Italia, spoke at length about Telecom Italia’s deployment of a mHealth service in Turin, Italy. Their Nuvolo Home Doctor solution measures a patient’s condition which is accessible via a smart phone and then transmits the data to healthcare professionals for monitoring and examination. During the course of the study, the solution brought demonstrable health benefits and was highly cost effective, saving €2,000 on patient visits and €18,000 on readmissions.
This webinar was first in a series hosted by the GSMA and Fierce Wireless that will continue throughout the year.
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