Huawei in talks with companies on new IoT technology

NEW DELHI: Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei is in talks with India’s telcos to deploy narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology to address the connectivity needs of industries, helping the carriers to create new revenue streams amid severe competition.

“Almost 30 networks are getting commercialised on narrowband IoT globally this year and in India this year, we will see narrowband IoT commercial services,” Radhey Shyam Sarda, senior solutions director at Huawei Telecommunications, told ET. The rollout will involve a simple software upgrade to existing 4G base stations, he said.

NB-IoT is a new technology standard designed to broaden the future of IoT connectivity. Ratified by 3GPP, a telecoms standards body that works to develop future generation wireless technologies, NBIoT provides improved network coverage for communications, supports deeper coverage and a large number of connections, while lowering power consumption.

Bharti Airtel and Vodafone offer IoT solutions such as location trackers, automotive telematics, smart metering, security-surveillance solutions and managed IoT connectivity platforms, among others. Huawei’s director for marketing and integrated solutions Chandan Kumar said the company has conducted smart parking, metering and lighting trials in India.