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MTN Business to roll out a dedicated Internet of Things (IoT) network

Sep 29, 2017 InternetOfThings, CellularNetwork, Information, Business, Cargo, Trucking, Logistics



MTN Business has embarked on an aggressive rollout of new generation technologies such as LoRaWAN Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and Narrow Band-IoT to support its machine2machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, and enhance security of business-critical information.

 

Mariana Kruger, GM for IoT Solutions at MTN Business, says these technologies provide MTN Business with an ideal stage to offer cutting-edge and tailored propositions for enterprise clients, while delivering secure and fool-proof connections.

 

Among the projects involved in this, is one targeted at alleviating truck and cargo theft. Sadly, truck hijacking is on the increase in SA. According to the South African Insurance Crime Bureau, high demand goods such as cigarettes make them prime targets for crime syndicates. Crime statistics published in September 2015 revealed an alarming increase of almost a third of reported truck hijackings during the previous year.

 

Signal jamming, in particular, is an increasingly popular means for criminals to steal vehicles and loads, with truck hijackings costing the country an estimated R3 billion in 2015 alone.

 

Mindful of the adverse impact on the transportation, logistics and fleet industry, MTN Business rolled out a number of solutions to help the industry combat the scourge of hijackings.

 

Kruger says one of the solutions that MTN Business has brought to market under its fleet management portfolio is Cargo Connect. This is a digital lock that secures goods being transported, and only allows them to be accessed with a one-time PIN at a designated (GPS) location specified by the client.

 

In other instances cameras and sensors that monitor the cargo, driver behavior and driving habits form part of the wider offering to MTN Business’ fleet clients. Any deviation from the designated route can be picked up in real-time from a remote monitoring centre. 

 

Allaying concerns that these solutions might be compromised by possible network outages as the solutions are connectivity dependent, Kruger points out that there has never been a country-wide network outage that affects all voice, SMS and data service. “Owing to the way the network is designed, an active cell or base station will provide connectivity within a short radius,” says Kruger.

 

Kruger further vouches for the security of these systems. “These solutions are housed in our data centres, and we are 3GPP compliant in accordance with our Global GSM Operator license conditions. The level of encryption on our network is second to none.

 

“Taking it further, we have created a dedicated network that has its own core business support systems and operational support systems for all our M2M and IoT solutions. Our network allows us to separate our consumer traffic from our M2M and IoT related traffic. This is because we understand that, in this environment, the communications that are coming from these machines can include data from power utilities or vehicles in transit. There is a certain level of criticality of that information that applies, as opposed to somebody linking to their next YouTube session, for example,” says Kruger.

 

Considering the future of IoT and M2M, Kruger says the growth prospects are massive, particularly for industries and sectors that are buckling from inefficiencies owing to lack of access to these types of solutions.

 

“Whether businesses choose to adopt it or not, technology is already going down that road. Enablement is created at the point of manufacture. For example, by the time you buy a motor vehicle, connectivity solutions are already installed and can’t be removed. It also gives manufacturers the opportunity to create new revenue streams via value-added services as the result of the vehicle being connected,” concludes Kruger.

 

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