On May 15, 2017, Ericsson signed an MoU with China Mobile’s Government and Enterprise Customers Branch and Mobike for a smart travel partnership under the “Belt and Road” framework. The partnership is a response to the government’s call for green travel and the “Belt and Road” initiative which aims to improve the overall service level of smart travel and drive the global collaboration and development of the bicycle-sharing industry.
Wei Bing, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile’s Government and Enterprise Customers Branch, Zhao Juntao, President of Ericsson China, and Wang Xiaofeng, co-founder and CEO of Mobike, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective company. Anna Johansson, Minister for Infrastructure, Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, Sweden, who was visiting China for the ongoing 2017 “Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation” in Beijing, and Anna Lindstedt, Swedish Ambassador to China, attended the signing ceremony, and also paid a visit to the Beijing office of Mobike.
At the end of last year, Ericsson, China Mobile Shanghai Company, and Mobike completed an industry-first end-to-end application trial based on live cellular IoT network in Shanghai. The signing of this MoU indicates that the three parties will further explore deep collaboration in digital services and accelerate the application of the new IoT technologies as well as global IoT operations.
According to the MoU, the specific areas for collaboration include:
- Optimize the existing IoT solution for bicycle sharing and jointly develop key technologies for the next generation travel. The three parties will pilot the application of the new IoT technologies in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Sichuan, and jointly optimize the end-to-end IoT solution for bicycle sharing, to improve user experience, and to promote the maturing of the bicycle-sharing ecosystem.
- Jointly explore the big data on travel and work together to drive the global collaboration for bicycle sharing. The three parties will promote information sharing and explore smart travel solutions. They will respond to the call of the government’s “Belt and Road” initiative, provide cooperation for the global strategic expansion of Mobike, and jointly develop the one-stop global IoT solution, so as to build a global IoT connection platform that is convenient and easy to use.
- Improve the digital service level in smart transportation. They will work together to develop digital service applications for smart travel and improve the overall digital service level of smart travel.
- Integrate the best resources of each party and work together to explore business models for co-marketing. The three parties will work together to explore innovative business models such as how to exchange points and how to launch co-branded cards, so as to achieve a win-win result for all.
Wei Bing, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile’s Government and Enterprise Customers Branch, said: “China Mobile is keen to collaborate with bicycle-sharing service providers and supports the effort of Mobike to launch smart and connected locks, so as to enable the real-time network connection and real-time interaction of bicycles for sharing. By signing the MoU today, we will join hands with Mobike and Ericsson to accelerate the application of the key IoT technologies as well as the global IoT operations and provide green, safe and shared travel services.”
Zhao Juntao, President of Ericsson China, said: “In order to promote the application of IoT technologies in a wider range of areas and grow the IoT ecosystem, Ericsson is willing to work together with our long-term partner China Mobile and our innovation partner Mobike to explore new models, to create new opportunities, and to seek a win-win result for all. We believe that our breakthrough collaboration for smart travel will help to accelerate the large-scale commercial deployment of IoT in China starting from bicycle sharing.”