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INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) network provider VT Networks has announced a new €1.2 million round of funding that will help secure Ireland’s first nationwide cost-effective connectivity network in 2016.
In November last year, VT Networks announced a partnership with French company Sigfox who have developed an IoT network that specifically caters towards low-power and cost-effective connectivity for utility, security and other IoT devices.
Working with RTÉ subsidiary 2RN, VT Networks have rolled out Sigfox technology in numerous base stations across Ireland to date, reaching 72% of the population and covering 62% of Ireland’s landmass.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Mark Bannon, CEO of VT Networks, said this latest round of funding will help grow the existing network to cover almost the entire country.
We made the announcement back in November that we will be working with Sigfox technology to develop Ireland’s first IoT network, but today is important because we brought to an end the funding round. This additional funding means we will be able to boost our network reach to 95% population and territory coverage by June of this year.
The IoT revolution and your oil tank
Now a leading trend worldwide, IoT is expected to be the latest technological development to change the way consumers and businesses interact with their devices.
Ireland is the 12th country worldwide to provide this network and its accessibility on a nationwide basis will allow consumers and businesses to avail of IoT products that could improve the cost-effectiveness of basic utilities.
Popular IoT products available at present include Belkin’s WeMo range that allows you to control light switches using a smartphone, Nest’s line of products that includes a smart thermostat that learns your habits, and a device popular among Airbnb users called Lockitron, which allows keyless entry to a premises using a passcode.
“It’s all about outsourcing life to IoT. This network will allows business and consumer to change the way they interact with the world around them. It will change business model by taking simple stress out of life,” Bannon said.
For example, if your house’s oil tank runs out and it is fitted with IoT technology, you won’t need to call the oil company to come and fill up your tank. The IoT device will inform the oil company independently that you are out of oil and they will know to come and fill up your tank.
This is the first time Ireland has a dedicated network that will allow IoT devices to connect and interact with one another.
Unlike the existing 3G and 4G networks available nationwide, VT Network’s new service will allow nationwide low-power and cost-effective connectivity, meaning utility devices will be able to benefit from longer battery life while also possessing IoT capabilities.
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Smart devices, dumb people. The privacy concerns here are staggering and legislation is nowhere near fit for purpose yet. I’ll keep my house under manual control for now, thanks all the same.
Does this mean they’ve figured out how to get fast broadband into all houses first, otherwise it’s just the internet of SFA really.
No.
Most likely this will operate at a much lower OSI layer and won’t transmit detailed application data, or even IP (Internet Protocol) packages. The goal here is to have these devices only transmit (relatively) small pieces of information and fairly infrequently. There’s no need for big application sessions and/or big bursts of traffic, so you can connect a lot more devices knowing that there will be little traffic to create stress on the system.
By stripping off a few layers of protocols, you can reduce the latency of package wrapping and unwrapping and also speed up point to point speeds across the system. The result will be to push all of the thinking back up to the servers/cloud and let your devices be simple sensors and actuators.
This is much better than running your devices over your home wireless network and/or running them directly over 4G.
You’re peacocking Ronan.
…..what he said
There’s a man who knows what he is talking about! Level :Expert
Most people buy heating oil when they can afford it not necessarily when they need it. Will the IoT cross reference ones bank balance. Also, can I connect to my wife to say “home in ten minutes,have pipe and slippers ready , dinner on the table and TV set to Top Gear…… PS. Pants are optional.”
Do you really thing most people skimp and save for basics like heating?
Well, in practice obviously it would involve signing up to a contract where they come out and supply you and you have a direct debit or a regular billing arrangement. In effect it would be no different than any other bill like electricity etc.
If you don’t want regular automatic deliveries then you just say so.
But the wider use of the IoT in this example is really that your local oil distributor will know how much oil he needs in stock, and when, based on the IoT accurately predicting how many households among his customers are running out. Which means supplies can be distributed around the country more efficiently, less wastage, less wait time when you pick up your phone to order etc.
I thing so Kal.
David, Kal doesn’t even live in this country, yet we are subject to his pearls of wisdom – another downside to the “Internet of Shite”.
I don’t think Kal lives on this planet Rashers.
Regardless….. Der Journal provides a home for all manner of retrobates and scoundrels, as is evident by our mutual presence.
It appears half their coverage is in the irish sea….. Thats handy if i every win the lotto and buy a big yacht!
In all seriousness, a big part of the IoT is the collection of environmental information. IoT ships and boats at sea can help greatly increase the accuracy of both general weather patterns and where seas may be about to become dangerous to be on.
I can’t wait for more “Internet of things” where more morons can encourage me to buy/read things I don’t need which have no actual intrinsic value. Pain in the hole.
Whooah.. Keyless entry using a passcode! This is revolutionary. I have an idea for a card that will allow us to get money out a machine in a wall.. It’s a secret just now but I’m working to improve it.
Password, passcode, equally useless. Now a suitably complex and unique spoken passphrase, such as rattling off the first few lines of a popular song followed by your grand-aunt’s birthday backwards might be a reasonable alternative to a decent mortice lock.
Lightbulbs, locks and thermostats don’t need Internet access, nor should they have it. The IoT is snake oil for gadget lovers with too much money to spend, nothing more.
When you put software into a device that has functioned perfectly without it, you inevitably make it less secure, and less reliable. We’ve seen this time and time again. Already we’ve had well publicised glitches with Nest thermostats and private IP cameras positioned within children’s bedrooms being made accessible from the public internet due to the owners not changing the security settings from their defaults.
To use a corporate buzzword, these devices, unlike your laptop or iPad, are deployed in “mission-critical” scenarios i.e. they must be extremely robust and secure. If they fail, there is the potential for serious harm to come to property or even individuals themselves. The vendors who write the software for these gadgets are either incompetent or not treating the task at hand with the seriousness it deserves. These devices will, at best, turn your house into one unending IT project, and at worst, present another entry point for attackers to violate your privacy, and for manufacturers to hoover up behavioural data about consumers.
Have you heard the one about the smart deadbolt that leaves your front door open even while the app claims it’s securely locked?
http://gizmodo.com/august-smart-lock-and-connect-review-ill-use-keys-tha-1685319060
To say nothing of the stories of Smart TVs being hacked over the air with no chance of detection.
Luddism is the only sane response to the Internet of Things, at least until firms are held accountable for releasing connected devices with no effort made to actually secure them.
Couldn’t agree more, Eric.
I use nest thermostats and nest protect and have philips hue lights and find them very good, the thermostat is handy to start the heating when on the way home from somewhere, the nest protects will send notifications to my and the wife’s phone if it detects fire or carbon monoxide while away from the house, if an alarm happens at night the lights in the kid’s bedroom pulse as well, the kids are young and like the bathroom and hallway light on at night, these lights automatically dim after 12 and turn off at sunrise. i find the IOT handy, as for cameras in kids bedrooms ect , i wouldn’t do it, automatic ordering of goods/ services would cause more problems than solve. It is all about what suits and if it makes life easier – if it doesn’t – dont buy it ! simple :)
I have wifi enabled plugs at home. In the morning I can turn on my kettle and grill from my Cody bed, and at night I can turn on the leccy blanket while watching telly so it’s nice and warm for getting into bed. Fierce handy.
My life revolves around my bed.
Lockitron…wasn’t he one of the Transformers?
Might take a while for the TDs to absorb the IoT, they are still getting their head round the Cloud Computers in the Galway weather
Excellent post and wonderful blog, I really like this type of interesting articles keep it you.Nimble Messages
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