The GSMA Association has revealed in its latest report that Chinese mobile operators are leading the world in the deployment of “transformative” Internet of Things (IoT) solutions with 64% of the 1.5 billion global cellular connections including the “rapidly growing” Mobile IoT licensed LPWA technologies.
According to the GSMA - the mobile operators trade body – by connecting an estimated 960 million devices via cellular networks, China is realizing the value of the IoT and “transforming society through mass market deployments of smart home, smart industry and smart city solutions”.
“Backed by proactive government support, China is now at the forefront in the development and mass deployment of innovative and transformative IoT based solutions based on Mobile IoT technology,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer, GSMA.
“These new technologies are being implemented across multiple different vertical sectors fundamentally altering the way we live and work, delivering real-time information and making our cities smarter and our lives easier and more productive.”
The GSMA report says China has a wide variety of different examples of large scale IoT deployments across various sectors. “For example, Sunsea AIoT with partner, China Telecom has installed over 500,000 NB-IoT sensors covering over 37km in the Jing’an District, turning the area into a truly smart community,” the report notes.
“The devices monitor fire hydrant water pressure sensors as well as gas and smoke detectors and environmental monitors. Connected manhole covers also monitor gases and underground assets. An integrated platform centralizes, monitors and analyses the data to help with real-time improvements.
“China Mobile has installed over 100,000 NB-IoT intelligent fire alarm systems including fire alarms, temperature sensors, smoke and gas detectors across China. China Unicom has installed over 25,000 gas and water meters utilising an NB-IoT solution that combines the IoT with big data to make energy management more intelligent.”
