Ericsson in talks with Indian telcos to launch IoT services

Swedish telecommunications firm and network equipment maker Ericsson is in talks with Indian telecom operators to launch Internet of Things (IoT) services in the country.

David Hagerbro, Ericsson's head of strategy, technology and emerging business in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia, told The Economic Times that India is at the forefront of digitalisation.

"5G and IoT are the key enablers for this digital transformation. Telecom operators will play a key role and we are committed to being a key partner in this journey," he said.

The report said that the company had already floated a new division at the beginning of the year that would look to innovate and offer services driven by internet of things (IoT) and 5G.

Jeff Travers, head of IoT at Ericsson, said that Ericsson's IoT services will add more revenue as telcos will need to put up more Radio Dots - a small cell solution for mobile broadband - to support the infrastructure that will help in delivery of these new services.

“IoT complements and can boost the existing business. But IoT itself is software-based and it is also as a service,” he was quoted as saying. 

Travers added that the company had come out with a new marketplace for IoT that combines apps, devices into a singular managed entity for telecom companies.

The report also quoted Travers as saying that the Swedish company was focusing on manufacturing, transportation and smart cities under its IoT ambit. 

“In smart cities, we are focused on office, living and environmental factors. In transport, we are focused on fleet management, autonomous cars, and smart traffic lights,” Travers said.

The company is already working on the Bhopal Smart City project and has entered into a partnership with Bharti Infratel to deploy smart poles in the city. Other projects include solutions such as as ‘Connected Aquaponics’ and ‘Smart Watergrid Management’ solutions, already tested in Mori, Andhra Pradesh.

The India IoT head also said that deployment of IoT will be boosted by efforts in 5G. “The relationship between 5G and IoT is very close and significant. The need of industry could be IoT or regular broadband…what industries are looking at is IoT...they want their products connected,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, TechCircle reported that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL)'s telecom arm Reliance Jio Infocomm has started conducting trials of its enterprise Internet of Things services in the country.