Ultimate connectivity platform for global IoT devices: boosting the competitiveness of IoT device makers

Project Information

IoT4ALL

Grant agreement ID: 812170

DOI

10.3030/812170

Project closed

EC signature date 24 April 2018

Start date 1 June 2018

End date 31 May 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 1 983 750,00

EU contribution

€ 1 388 625,00

Coordinated by

1OT OU
Estonia

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - IoT4ALL (Ultimate connectivity platform for global IoT devices: boosting the competitiveness of IoT device makers)

Reporting period: 2020-12-01 to 2021-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

For Europe, the Internet-of-Things (IoT) provides an opportunity to unlock 7 percentage points of GDP growth (€1 trillion) by 2025.
The key role in achieving this potential is played by IoT device makers and service providers, who are exploring new global business models and are moving towards autonomous, self-learning, and fully automated services and products. However, these companies are facing significant connectivity challenges:
It is not technically possible to automatically manage cellular connectivity traffic, cost and SIM cards on a global scale.
Available solutions are not flexible nor compatible with a full range of wide-area connectivity technologies.
The data transfer prices for global connectivity (IoT devices located in different countries) are up to 500% higher compared to prices for local connectivity (all devices located in a single country).
The pricing schemes for global connectivity, including financial commitments, are rigid in adopting customer’s use cases, built for specific region only and are tailored for high or mid mobile data volume customers.

This connectivity challenge has several negative outcomes for the whole IoT sector and beyond:
The creation and growth of innovative IoT devices and services are restricted because global business models are difficult to implement and economically infeasible.
Global connectivity management cannot be technically embedded into services or products that support automated machine-to-machine communication, self-learning mechanisms, data analytics and real-time visibility.
1oT has developed an IoT connectivity platform with global cellular connectivity solution that allows IoT device makers to get global data coverage for all of their devices anywhere in the world.

DISRUPTIVE ADVANTAGES OF THE PLATFORM:
Truly universal, able to serve more than 95% of IoT device makers and service providers that need wide-area cellular coverage.
Unique easy-to-use self-service platform with a powerful Application Programming Interface (API), which enables the user to control, manage, and monitor mobile data sessions around the world from one platform and provides an additional full range of value-added services for one-click integration with other services and softwares.
Truly global connectivity coverage in 190 countries for at least 50% lower data costs.
Flexible and transparent pay-as-you-go pricing without volume commitments and termination fees.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Within the project we had several achievements. Namely, by the end of the project we have developed 1oT’s own eSIM infrastructure which in the future would replace current licensed eSIM infrastructure.
We have developed 3 additional value-added functionalities Intelligent Connectivity, Connectivity Optimiser and Workflow Automation. In addition to Terminal licensing product we launched software as a service (SaaS) solution where the platform is in cloud and shared with multiple carriers:
o SaaS platform is for MNOs and MVNOs looking for a scalable and reliable platform with quick and straightforward integration
o Terminal Licensing is for MNOs looking for a platform covering all their unique requirements and business needs to run their IoT & M2M business line.
This allowed us successfully to pilot our solution with IoT companies and mobile operators.
We have prepared and submitted the business plan for postproject commercial success, kept on working with 15 partners and running partnership programme to collaborate with different verticals in the IoT sector, as well as performed the strongest digital marketing in the telecom sector with the focus on adwords, Linkedin, Facebook, technical blogposts, video material in Youtube, monthly newsletters & social media presence.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

1oT has catered 300,000 (e)SIM cards on its platform, which has proved that 1) our platform (1oT Terminal) is an essential day-to-day tool for IoT service providers for managing and controlling their SIMs at scale, 2) our connectivity solution, where we aggregate multiple MNO services under one service, is highly needed on the market, and 3) eSIM is the best possible technology to provide flexibility for global IoT service providers. Essentially, we are solving a fundamental problem in the field of IoT and help to unlock IoT revolution by providing an easier and flexible way to connect devices to the Internet worldwide. The world is expecting to see IoT devices (that are working on cellular technology) growing from 1.56 billion in 2019 to 4.15 billion in 2024 according to Berg Insight. This growth can only happen if we enable IoT service providers to get easier access to the Internet anywhere in the world and enable them to manage their thousands to tens of thousands of IoT devices with ease, so they do not need to cope with different SIM cards, different MNOs/MVNOs, different platforms and customer support channels to run business in different countries in the world.
IoT has proved to be one of the top performing sectors in the world and is just picking up its momentum. However, dealing with different MNOs and connectivity solutions slows down ambitious scaling plans of those companies. We believe that connectivity needs to become a commodity, enabling IoT service providers to focus on their core business instead. On a broad scale, our connectivity solution is enabling many IoT service providers to scale and grow, which means there’s more value added to the economy and a lot of jobs created in the field.

1oT cover