As analysts and market forces predict an ongoing move toward the Internet of Things (IoT) by business interests worldwide, service providers are circling around intelligent IoT devices and systems that are seen as transformative for businesses seeking that elusive competitive advantage.
The latest entrant to declare its IoT ambitions is multinational telecoms conglomerate Telenor, which last week announced its intention to unify its global IoT operations and bring both its regional Nordics portfolio and its international Telenor Connexion portfolio under the brand Bring Telenor IoT together.
The transition is effective immediately, allowing Telenor to offer IoT across all its business channels in Scandinavia, where Telenor is the established market, while serving IoT customers globally through Telenor Connexion and selected local partners.
“The new operating model strengthens our competitive advantage and makes our product portfolio easier to purchase for all customers looking for best-in-class IoT operations and platform capabilities,” said Mats Lundquist, CEO of Telenor Connexion and manager of Telenor IoT, in a readiness statement. “We also get economies of scale when investing in new technologies,” confirmed the top executive.
Telenor already claims to be among the top ten IoT operators worldwide by volume and has more than 17 million connected devices in 190 countries. The company claims to be among the top three service providers in Europe, but didn’t specify how many of its connected devices are in and around its Scandinavian stronghold.
“The launch of Telenor IoT and the unification of our IoT skills and competencies will put us in a better position to accelerate the digital future that will benefit customers, businesses and society,” said Jukka Leinonen, Nordic EVP and Chairman of the Telenor Connexion Board, in a prepared statement. “The steps we are taking now are the culmination of several months of intensive collaboration between colleagues in Telenor’s Nordic telecom companies, Telenor Connexion and Telenors Nordic Hub.”
As previously mentioned, the integration of both IoT divisions into a single Telenor IoT will be accompanied by a new operating model for the Norwegian telecom giant, which aims to “leverage Telenor’s global expertise, synchronize product development, accelerate customer-centric business and… improve the technique support”.
The association has also created the largest team of IoT specialists among Nordic service providers, consisting of 200 specialists in 18 countries in Africa, Americas, Asia Pacific and Europe. This bodes well for the expected accelerated adoption of IoT in the coming years, along with the clear standardization that should follow as smart devices become an integral part of the connected enterprise.
And this trend is already thriving, with Strategy Analytics predicting that sales of eSIMs (heralded as the next evolution of the SIM card, an embedded SIM card that doesn’t need to be physically transferred between devices) for IoT applications will reach 326 million by 2025 – including eSIMS for hard-to-reach devices such as sealed medical devices, connected vehicles and consumer electronics devices.
With a unified global IoT team, a standardized product range and an internationally focused go-to-market plan, Telenor IoT aims to offer every customer the best of every business IoT competency segment.
However, industry insiders are also pointing to a realignment of Telenor’s priorities as the global market continues to offer stiffer competition for declining margins and distribution media for enterprise connectivity evolves. Telenor’s renewed focus on the local Nordic market for new solutions such as IoT eSIMs shows a rebalancing of priorities, back to a common or equal market for the domestic market.
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