Johannesburg – Telecommunications giant MTN announced on Thursday that it had launched the first Pan African Internet of Things platform (IoT).
“We believe that this platform will help businesses with solutions and products for them to do better, grow, and find a new way of doing things,” said MTN Chief Executive Officer, Sifiso Dabengwa.
Dabengwa said IoT, which was the network of physical objects being planted with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity to enable them to achieve greater value and service by exchanging data with the manufacturer, operator and/or other connected devices, would get rid of significant cost and accessibility barriers.
“To ensure a seamless customer experience for our customers, wherever MTN has presence, the IoT platform has a dedicated network, separate from the consumer network, for operational and business systems support. As a result, the platform is dedicated to managing all MTN’s machine-to-machine functions,” said Mteto Nyati, MTN Group Chief Enterprise Officer.
Nyati added that the platform was the next evolutionary step in connecting and managing machines, and that its associated dedicated network enabled them to connect an otherwise fragmented population of devices and systems. The open platform enabled networked devices to exchange information and perform actions, responding intelligently to their environments without human intervention.
“In the insurance industry,” said Nyati, “a platform like this allows the company to connect to your vehicle at a click of a button, and they will be able to bill each customer according to their driving behaviour and not having everyone being billed the same despite the fact that everyone does not have the same drive behaviour.”
ANA