Source: News Cision
Sigfox shakes up the IoT with unique low power, low cost, easy to use and global solutions.
The worker strolled into the apartment with a device in his hand. He greeted the inhabitants, peeled paper off adhesive backing, stuck the device on the wall, said bye and left. The flat was now connected to the
Sigfox 0G network dedicated to IoT, cutting heating costs, keeping the occupants comfortable and quickly detecting any problems. The whole process took ten seconds.
“Yes, the ease of installation and use is an important benefit of our solution,” says Peter Hedberg, Nordics and Baltics Director of Sigfox. “There is no pairing or wiring. You stick it on the wall and you’re done.”
Based in Labège near Toulouse, Sigfox was founded in 2010 and is backed by major investors like Intel Capital, Telefonica and Salesforce. They have grown rapidly on the strength of their IoT solution, with 450 employees, operators in 60 countries and 6.2 million connected devices at the end of 2018.
One network, one billion people
Sigfox provides connectivity and an IoT platform so simple objects can transmit information such as position or temperature.
“It is extremely cost efficient because the solution uses free public radio spectrums and the Sigfox radio module is well below two dollars today and will cost as little as fifty cents or less in the near future,” Hedberg continues. “Additionally, the solution is low power and uses little energy. A sensor to detect water leakage might last ten years with no need to replace the battery. Water damage is a major cost to building owners, so insurance companies love it.”
Sigfox’s is a global solution, already covering over a billion people in one network. Michelin partnered with Sigfox and Argon Consulting to track sea-freight containers in real time for their worldwide supply chain. Other use cases include manufacturing, smart cities, retail, agriculture and smart buildings: whenever a client needs to track an asset, monitor conditions or secure items or people.
Adventurers wanted
Many other IoT solutions are power hungry.
A cellular connection uses energy to find a base station to communicate with, while Sigfox doesn’t need to do that. It is a lighter solution, more predictable with minimum overhead.
“The Sigfox 0G network is fully compatible with other types of connectivity,” Hedberg says. “It can work with 3G / 4G or Wi-Fi, for example, depending upon exactly what the customer needs.
“With the support of a growing ecosystem, we are working on even more solutions to serve our clients better, such as printable devices, proximity detection and even better coverage via satellites. I invite anyone interested in joining us on this cool adventure to get in touch.” Text: David J. Cord
Sigfox
Our vision: Make things come alive Billions of objects worldwide will be connected to the Internet; their data will be stored in the cloud and will participate in the digitalization of our environment. Having a global, simple, low-cost and low-power connectivity solution is fundamental. This is the challenge that Sigfox addresses by deploying 0G network, already present in 60 countries.
