Comm. Smart Cities and IoT supplement Smart Cities and IoT | Seite 12

In t e rn a t i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t s
Investments

n e t w o r k o p e r at o r s

European telcos
invest in IoT
start-up

EE drives connected devices

French firm Actility, a specialist in low-power wireless networks for the Internet of
Things, secured a US$25 million funding
round that included three European operators and Foxconn.
The round was led by Ginko Ventures and
included operators KPN, which says it has
acquired a minority stake in Actility; Orange,
which invested €3 million (US$3.35 million);
and Swisscom, with which Actility recently
concluded a technology partnership.
The list also includes BPI, Electranova and
Truffle Capital.
Actility will use the funds to accelerate
its go-to-market strategy for ThingPark,
its open standard IoT network solution;
funding its operational resources, building
service levels and continuing to develop
technology partnerships.

EE, the UK’s biggest 4G operator, is to expand connectivity beyond users’ smartphones to include a range of devices in their home, workplace, car, or when they exercise.
The operator’s Connected Strategy will see it develop its own products (the first is a GoPro-style action camera), as well as “work with innovative businesses to deliver new and exciting experiences for customers”. Other EE 4G devices will follow the action camera later in 2015.
The strategy has four strands: Connected Home, which promises to make users’ home
environment “even smarter”; Connected You, allowing people to “play, keep fit, interact and
share on the go”; Connected Car, which is designed to increase vehicle efficiency and keep
passengers constantly connected; and Connected Business, boosting business efficiency
while helping new products and services to emerge.

Investments

Dell launches its
first IoT lab in
Europe
Dell announced the launch of its first dedicated Internet of Things lab in Europe. Based
in Limerick, Ireland, the lab will be one of the
bases for the new IoT division focused on
bringing together end-to-end IoT solutions
that span hardware, software, and services.
Dell has also announced its IoT division’s
first product release, a gateway designed to
help customers kick-start their solution development and begin realising the value of IoT
immediately. The gateway is robust enough
for the rigors of current projects and can also
be leveraged as a proof-of-concept for use
with future specialised Dell gateways.

n e t w o r k o p e r at o r s

KT to trial LTE-M with Nokia this year
South Korean operator KT and Nokia are to launch a trial of M2M over LTE by Q4 2015, as the
two companies also confi