In an era where digital transformation and connected devices are ubiquitous, IoT has emerged as a transformative force, reshaping industries and redefining business operations. According to Statista statistics, approximately 57% of North American and European organizations currently integrate IoT technology into their business processes. Companies across various sectors are adopting and investing in IoT solutions to boost efficiency, productivity, and security. 

With rapid growth comes the desire to expand, and limiting your business to one continent may hinder your potential. If you’re looking to expand from North America to the European Union (EU) or vice versa, here are some key considerations for successful international expansion. 

Choosing the right IoT Connectivity Management Platform

If you’ve been in the IoT industry for a while, you know that a crucial component is your Connectivity Management Platform (CMP). Cisco IoT Control Center is a leading player in this field, offering robust features for device connectivity, data management, and security. 

Tele2 IoT’s partnership with Cisco began in the early days, and this partnership has allowed us to offer the features our customers need. One of the platform’s biggest advantages is its ability to manage connectivity on a global scale. Expanding across continents involves navigating diverse network protocols, varying standards, and different telecommunications environments, which can be challenging. Having the right CMP can ease a lot of headaches.

Ensuring security and scalability

When planning business deployment across multiple continents, it is essential to consider distinct regulatory frameworks and compliance requirements, particularly in areas like data privacy and security. Cisco IoT Control Center is designed to meet global regulatory standards. This is crucial for international expansion, as it helps businesses navigate compliance complexities, ensuring IoT operations align with regional regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe.

As your business grows and deploys more IoT devices in new regions, the platform can easily scale to meet increased demand. Its adaptability to different environments and network infrastructures ensures a smooth expansion process, minimizing disruptions and optimizing the performance of your IoT ecosystem.

Partnering for connectivity

When your business is experiencing growth momentum, this is not the time to be complacent. Instead, this is the time to capitalize on the moment and keep driving forward. The same applies to your connectivity partners. Having a dedicated professional representing each region or market can be invaluable when delivering excellent customer service and experience.

While there are many key considerations in IoT device deployment, your connectivity provider is one of the most important. Partnering with Tele2 IoT means having a partner who understands the complexities of international expansion and is equipped to help your business thrive in a connected world. Over the past 11 years, as a leading global provider of managed IoT connectivity solutions, we have emphasized global reach, comprehensive solutions, strong security, and a customer-centric approach, as well as a passionate team delivering “IoT Love” – our dedication to and passion for IoT.

Expanding your business across continents can be a complex yet rewarding endeavor. Leveraging Cisco IoT Control Center and partnering with Tele2 IoT can streamline your international expansion by ensuring seamless global connectivity, regulatory compliance, and scalability, while providing the support and expertise needed to navigate the complexities of international growth. As you embark on this journey, remember that the right tools and the right partners are crucial to achieving sustained success and delivering exceptional customer experiences.

If you would like to learn more about Cisco IoT Control Center, please get in touch.

Lauma Rute Rodionova
Sales Manager
Tele2 IoT

The Tele2 IoT team is not alone in saying that we love customer feedback – nearly every company will tell you the same thing. But we have some particular reasons as to why we find customer feedback – both positive and negative – especially critical for our team.

We are a global player in a rapidly evolving industry. Our customers work across a wide variety of industries and verticals, and they operate all over the world – and we know that the needs of different industries and verticals are not all the same, and that geographical location can have an impact on your IoT solution.

This means we need to understand the needs of different industries and geographical locations, because when we get a call at 2am on a Saturday morning from a  customer working in a particular industry in a particular region, we want to already have knowledge about them that we can utilize to quickly address their immediate challenges – and we can also use what we learn for more long-term improvements to customer care as well.

While positive is always great, it’s the constructive feedback that really keeps us on our toes and helps us better serve you. And it’s not just the Tele2 IoT management team that wants feedback, it’s the entire team. Why? Well, we are a team dedicated solely to IoT and we know that IoT a young, fast-moving industry that is still maturing, so there are a lot of changes happening all the time. Feedback helps us to respond quickly, address challenges promptly, pivot when necessary, and remain agile.

Constructive feedback might not always fun to hear, but it really does help us develop staff, improve processes, and even assist with training a new employee. Any feedback helps us learn from our mistakes while also nurturing what we do right.

So, how do we gather feedback from our customers?

1. Transactional CSAT

If a customer has had contact with our team, they will have the opportunity to give feedback once their case is closed. An email will be sent asking about their experience to our team, with a request to rate their experience on a scale of one to five. There is also the opportunity to leave a comment about why they gave us the rating. This is always really interesting for our team, because we know who handled the case and if there were any issues we can address them quickly.

2. Official CSAT

This CSAT survey is sent twice annually and is more detailed than the transactional CSAT. It includes more questions about customer support performance and gives you the opportunity to be even more specific on different areas where we are doing well or where we could improve. Customers rate us on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being ‘very unsatisfied’ and 5 being ‘very satisfied.

So, how did we do in our most recent survey? Overall, our customer satisfaction score was up from 87% in 2023, and we did not receive a single rating of one. We landed on a unified score of 92% across all segments.  60-80% is considered a ‘good’ CSAT score, while 80-100% is considered ‘excellent’ so we are very happy with these results.

3. Direct contact

Customers are more than welcome to reach out to us any time via email or through your Key Account Manager to give us direct feedback and tell us whatever they want to tell us. We read every email, and we work hard to address any concerns and improve our processes as a result.

4. Customer portal

Our new customer portal is still developing, so while customers are welcome to create a case and comment on anything they want via the Customer Portal, we are particularly interested in understanding how this new tool is working for you. What could be improved? What features would you like to see included? Is it serving your needs and is there anything confusing?

We are working on development of the Portal in an agile way, so we are listening closely to our customers to best understand the way forward.

At the end of the day, we’re always happy to hear what we’re doing right – but it’s constructive feedback that is more interesting to us because it helps us serve you better. Whether it’s products, services, communication, brand, Cisco IoT Control Center, a need for training… we want to hear it all and we want to be able to respond to you quickly, pivot when necessary, and remain agile.

So, why not reach out and tell us how we’re doing?

Inese Serda
IoT CI Coordinator
Tele2 IoT

As we approach the closing of 2G and 3G networks – with some already shut down – businesses must migrate to the latest 4G/5G technology to safeguard their solutions and stay relevant in the market. It’s important that CEOs and other interested parties ask the right questions, both to their teams and their connectivity provider, to ensure the right transformation plan is in place. 

But first– why are Mobile Network Operators retiring their 2G/3G services?

The technology shift away from 2G and 3G is primarily due to evolution and the demand for more advanced technologies that offer increased speeds, capacity, lower latency, and better coverage and reliability. 

Sunsetting older networks allows for the frequency spectrum and resources to be redirected, expanding the capabilities of newer technologies like 4G and 5G. 

This transition is essential for optimizing network performance and paving the way for innovation and higher telecommunications standards. 

When will 2G and 3G networks officially be shutdown? 

This is one of the most important questions to ask your team as well as your connectivity provider – and the answer can differ depending on where your customers and assets are located. 

• In Sweden, network operators are clear that both 2G and 3G will be retired in 2025, with all four Swedish operators moving at similar pace 
• In the UK, operators will retire 3G mobile networks by 2025, but will retain 2G until as late as 2033. Why? 2G technology has greater dependency due to the millions of IoT devices, such as smart meters, that will continue to rely on those services  
• For other European/EU countries, most cellular network providers plan to retire 3G slightly ahead of 2G 
• Globally, some operators have already completed or are well on their way to completing the 2G and 3G shutdown process, including the US and Australia. According to GSMA, by mid-October 2023, 97 networks had been shut down (46 were 2G and 51 were 3G networks). Based on announced plans, at least 143 networks will be discontinued between 2024 and 2030 (59 2G networks and 84 3G networks).

*See table at the end of the page for a full list of sunsetting dates. 

How can CEOs and business owners prepare for the 2G/3G shutdown? 

 Here are the main questions to ask your team and IoT connectivity partner(s). 

 1.     How will my business be impacted?

Understanding your customer base is critical, as is understanding which devices, technologies, and protocols your customer has built up a reliance on. Ask your team to gather data on: 

• What percentage of your customers are still using 2G and/or 3G devices? 
• In which countries are they located? 
• What is the sunset timeline for each country/affected customer? (Talk to your IoT connectivity provider to understand this) 

These insights will help determine where the risk is greatest and which customers are a priority in terms of engagement.  

2.    What do we need to consider when preparing for the transition? 

The discontinuation of 2G and 3G services could have numerous effects on your business. The impact on your companies’ budget may be one of the most significant, as upgrading technology will inevitably add cost. 

• The largest financial consideration is the purchase of new hardware and in some cases providing subsidies back to your customers to encourage them to switch. Speak to your hardware manufacturer to secure favourable terms and select replacement technology that is going to suit your needs not just today but for the entire lifespan of the device 
• If your devices do not lend themselves to “plug and play”, you may also need to secure engineering resources to help you deploy replacement devices out in the field. Consider if you can upskill your workforce to deliver remote training to customers to enable self-installation 
• If you have a large deployment of devices, consider assigning a project manager to oversee the replacement program. 

3.    What new opportunities does 2G/3G sunsetting bring to my business? 

2G and 3G decommissioning presents opportunities to revamp products  

• Upgrading to 4G and/or 5G networks not only enhances the reliability and speed of data transmission but also allows for the integration of more sophisticated IoT devices and applications. Businesses can capitalize on this by exploring the potential for enhanced functionality, improved analytics, and real-time data processing 
• Depending on bandwidth requirements, businesses may also consider investing in IoT-specific Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technologies such as VoLTE, NB-IoT or LTE-M, which are often the obvious choice for 2G/3G replacement. These are suitable for devices with low usage requirements that have a long lifecycle of 10+ years. NB-IoT and LTE-M can greatly enhance battery life and provide more reliable performance in remote or underground areas. 

4.    How should I communicate this technology shift to my customers?

We all know that being transparent with your customers is essential to maintaining trust and loyalty whilst minimizing churn. Communicating these changes early and clearly to your customers will allow them time to prepare for any changes which may impact them.  

• Be clear about consequences that could arise if your customers do not begin migration (ex. downtime or complete loss of service) 
• Encourage switching early by highlighting the benefits of 4G/5G, such as improved reliability, speed, security, and reduced latency. Depending on your service offering, you may want to expand on these benefits and describe additional features or offerings that could be introduced as a result of the switch 
• Ask your team to create a communication strategy that includes notifications about upcoming changes, key dates, calls to action, support routes, and FAQs. 

Keep in mind that not all your customers may follow IoT news. Therefore, pro-active and regular communication is key to ensuring the transition before the sunset date, helping to prevent any service loss, customer complaints, or reputational hits. 

What can Tele2 IoT do to help? 

No matter what the size of your deployment, Tele2 IoT is playing its part by providing our customers with valuable data insights to show which devices will be affected and need to be swapped out, along with which countries pose the most risk and what percentage of the customer’s estate may require hardware replacement. 

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me for assistance.

Ben Kirkham
Key Account Manager
Tele2 IoT

IoT use cases are rapidly growing in many regions around the world, and the Baltics are no exception. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – all three have been developing digital innovations in recent years and as a result have become strong players in the IoT world. Each of the three countries has their strengths and weaknesses but put all three together and they are producing hardware, software services, and solutions recognized around the world.

According to a report by Statista, the Nordic and Baltic IoT markets are experiencing rapid growth and were on track to reach €38 billion by 2022 . Growth in the Baltics has been mostly driven by transportation, manufacturing, smart city solutions, and utilities solutions – and we have a lot of experience in not just these segments, but nearly all segments.

If you are looking into launching your business in this part of the world here are couple of ideas that can help you to manage that:

In the Baltics, the IoT market has several unique benefits for business development when compared to the rest of Europe. Digital infrastructures development that is supported and financed by the government is a driver for fast paced growth development, with the focus on providing high-speed internet connectivity, creating an environment where IoT technologies can be developed in various sectors, and a skilled workforce.

With policies designed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship from the government side it’s a great starting point for tech startups to find a safe ground upon with to develop.  For example, Estonia has implemented a startup visa program or ‘Scale-Up’ visa that helps non-EU founders grow their startups.

Another unique angle is that the Baltics have a strong tradition of exporting.  Being located in northeastern Europe with easy access to the wider EU market (before the war in Ukraine, the region was a strong connection point with Asia) makes the Baltics very attractive for companies who are looking to expand their operations and create a global customer base.

This means that if you are looking into launching your business in industrial IoT (IIoT), the Baltics can be a good starting point.  We have already started developing the industry, with a particular focus on improved efficiency, reduced costs, and increased productivity.

Biggest Challenges

While Baltic government involvement is clear, the region itself is relatively small compared to the rest of Europe, which means that IoT companies may face more limited market accessibility if they only base their service within the region.

At the same time, the regulatory environment in the Baltic states can be complex, with a range of different regulations and requirements to navigate, such as the need of the registered company in the country to participate in government tenders, national languages used in documentation etc. It’s important to understand that a local presence is needed to navigate the business successfully.

Growing an IoT business in the Baltics from the Key Account Management side

Growing an IoT business in the Baltic states requires a strategic approach that considers the unique characteristics of the region. Keeping in mind the previously mentioned advantages and challenges by Lauma here are a few other things that can be key to scaling your IoT business in the Baltic states:

Since the market is not limitless it’s important to identify your target and focus on delivering a solution that meets specific needs and gives the customer a value proposition.  This requires a deep understanding of the local market and how many competitors there are in all three countries.

Partnering with local companies can be a big help for a new business looking to gain traction in the market while also establishing credibility. Identifying companies that have a strong presence in the region and a complementary set of skills and expertise can be the strategic game-changing point that elevates the business to the next level.

Another important thing to consider for growing your footprint in the Baltic market is price sensitivity. Both the Nordic and Baltic regions are highly developed in tech, but the differentiating factor between them is based on price sensitivity versus quality. This is due to the already high competition and historical Baltic perception of price. The winning formula in the Baltic market is the highest quality service with the lowest price, which we call it the Baltic standard.

Overall, in regard to the Baltic market IoT is still adapting and growing. If you are looking to expand or start in the Baltics by leveraging digital infrastructure, partnering with local companies, seeking funding, and staying agile, you can successfully grow your IoT business in the region.  As the market continues to grow, we can expect to see more innovative IoT solutions emerging from the Baltic states in the years to come.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to get in touch.

Lauma Rute Misune
Sales Specialist
Tele2 IoT

Agneta Laura Cirule
Key Account Manager
Tele2 IoT

As we head into the summer holidays, I wanted to take a moment for a mid-year update. It’s been a very busy first six months of the year, and I want to talk about some of the highlights and how this allows the Tele2 IoT team to continue to serve the market globally.

We’ve seen fantastic growth again – with +20% YoY revenue growth – and are excited about what the future holds. We’ve finally been able to not just meet one another in person, but also meet customers and the IoT community at large – and it’s been everything I hoped for.

Most recently, I was thrilled to finally be able to meet a lot of people in the IoT world – along with those looking to digitalize – at the IoT Solutions World Congress in Barcelona. I was joined by six members of my team as part of our strategy of expansion – and as you can see from the picture it was a great event.

In the past ten years, I have worked with a variety of companies across multiple verticals supporting them with their IoT rollouts, with a particular focus in recent years on the security and healthcare industries.  The critical nature of this business has presented some of the most exciting but also challenging opportunities.  At Tele2 IoT, these challenges and opportunities are what have helped shape our business –  we are always looking to constantly improve and innovate and provide the level of service and support that our large and complex customers need.

The IoT connectivity market is a great business to be in, given that we see significant growth in all segments and that we really do see customers using our connectivity to make fantastic services that improve everyday life. So, that is really an inspiration. 

One thing that we have seen lately is that the adoption of IoT tends to increase the dependability of connectivity. We see an increasing amount of use cases, and an increasing number of users, where the connectivity is real time critical. Either the criticality is from life/death situations, such as: 

• Elderly alarms 
• Home/business alarms 
• Remote drones flying CPR equipment 

Or the criticality is from a business perspective, where their business cannot function without connectivity:  

• Charging stations that need to be activated when payment comes through 
• Taxis that cannot accept fares without the connectivity 

I think this increasing dependability puts a high responsibility on operators to put resilience, high uptime, and security at the top of the agenda, both in terms of investment in the network, but also by providing services and consultation on how to build connectivity solutions that are designed for high uptime. 

Why choose cellular connectivity for the IoT application? 

 In general, I think cellular connectivity is great, especially with the new technologies that are developed for IoT. Think of it like this:  

• You have coverage almost anywhere in the world without any investment or running any equipment yourself 
• It has become much more affordable, and I would say that the value for money is amazing 
• The networks are very high quality 
• The security settings are in general high in the networks – and the requirements on 5G are much higher than previous generations
• The networks are supported by a very strong industry, both on the technology side and the service provider side
  • The volume of connected devices enable components such as radio modules or routers at competitive price points:
  • You can assume that the services will live on for the foreseeable future. This is important since you want to be sure that the devices you roll out will have connectivity for their lifetime
  • If you have a service that has a large geographical spread and that is important to you, I have a hard time seeing any better option .

Challenges, threats, risks with IoT applications 

When setting up an IoT application, most are focused on the benefits they want to achieve and how to get there quickly. And this is natural – you want to test the market fast to understand its potential. However, if you don’t consider the long-term operations of the platform, things can go wrong. 

I would divide the consequences in two areas. Consequences that make the solution unavailable and make you unable to reap the benefits, and consequences that are costly. 

Examples of things that make the solution unavailable are: 

• Devices that are being hacked. A typical hack is when they are connected to the internet and a vulnerability is found and exploited 
• Single point of failures in the solution making all devices go down at the same time 
• Devices not being able to automatically recover from smaller disturbances or maintenance in the network. 

Example of things that can be very costly are: 

• Stolen SIM cards used for fraud 
• Hacked devices misusing network resources for fraud 
• Device updates causing behavior that disturbs the mobile networks or suddenly increases the usage for a large number of devices 
• Services that are designed to use services that are normally free, such as USSD, voice and SMS MT, but not used as intended.  

The costs for misbehaviour or telecom fraud in a largescale roaming solution are significant. Worst case, you could be talking about millions and the cost for unavailable solutions can put you out of business. So. this is important. 

Luckily, most of this can be avoided with simple precautions before scaling. Think about it: most hacks are not super hackers exploiting complex backdoors or deciphering your state-of-the-art encryption. Most of it is devices being on the public internet because you didn’t secure a VPN or have default passwords, etc. 

Start small, but think ahead on how the solution can be scaled already from start. Make sure you take advice from the experts of your operator before scaling to avoid common risks. 

Customer challenges when setting up secure solutions 

One thing which I think is underestimated in terms of challenges is the setup of VPNs between the operator and the customer’s data center. In a cellular IoT connectivity solution, an IPsec tunnel is often used to create a virtual network between the customer’s network and the network of their connected devices. This IPsec tunnel is used to communicate all data traffic to/from the device and, if not configured correctly, it is both a security hole and a single point of failure.

I don’t know how much you know about IPsec tunnels, but on paper it looks easy. Reuse your internet connection and just encrypt the data to avoid any eavesdropping or attacks. However, the configuration requires specialist competence, especially when designing a setup that your business is to dependent on. 

The response from customers can be to suggest all sorts of work arounds, such as exposing devices to the public internet, only use an ACL to limit the IP address, or simply use a non-redundant IPsec tunnel with insecure settings. This would put the customer in a position where devices can be hacked, though, or their scaling solution could be jeopardized. 

I think in these cases, operators can assist customers by sticking to secure and reliable standards and provide alternative solutions that still are secure. We have, for example, a partnership with Equinix where we can route traffic via Equinix fiber to the customer’s data centers or directly to the hyperscaling cloud providers. All completely off public internet, secure, and with full geo redundancy and, also very important, with a simple and fast setup.  

Approaches & Solutions 

When you are starting to grow your IoT service, your connectivity service provider becomes an important decision. Of course, there are obvious things such as coverage and price which are needs to be covered but there are other things to consider to make sure that your solution will be long term sustainable, secure, and reliable: 

• Make sure you choose an operator with a clear IoT–focused organization and offer. There are differences in how you configure and support a mobile network for IoT and for B2B and these differences matter, especially when you start scaling 
• What subscription management platform do they provide? Are you able to properly see your devices’ consumption and signaling? Are you able to automate response to unexpected device behavior? Is the platform reliable and proven to scale? 
• Does the operator have an IoT-specific service desk and advisors who are experts on your IoT needs? 
• Do they have security services that are standardized for high security and resilience? How long will it take for them to set things up? Our experience is that some operator’s delivery timelines are not in line with what younger companies expect 

There are a lot of good operators – make sure you select one that has a clear focus on IoT and that will support your needs in the long run. 

How operators can assist customers in avoiding IoT vulnerabilities 

First of all, I think just choosing an IoT-focused mobile operator is a good choice. Most mobile networks have a higher level of security built in than what you could expect from WiFi or other standards. 

 Customers setting up their IoT solution are often very concerned about time and costs because they want to get to benefits fast and they don’t know how successful it will be. In order to avoid running into vulnerabilities in the long run, it is important that the operator makes security easy, affordable, and mandatory.  

We have taken the following decisions in relation to VPNs between our network and customers:  

• Don’t allow any direct access to devices from public internet. We have been challenged many times from customers that have previously used mobile broadband or WiFi, but it will never scale and be sustainable, so we say no 
• Only allow IPsec tunnels that have proper encryption methods and require customers to have automatic failover between geo–redundant routers. Badly designed IPsec tunnels can be a security hole and a single point of failure 
• Provide alternatives off the public internet. We are providing an alternative to IPsec tunnels that is affordable, simple to setup, and more secure and scalable. We call it Private Interconnect and it uses Equinix Fiber to connect to the customer’s data center or cloud provider. 

If you would like to learn more about how we can assist you in securing your IoT solution, please get in touch.  

Logistics companies, particularly CEPs (Courier Express Parcels), have been at the forefront of IoT adoption, and this has only accelerated during the global pandemic. But while logistics companies have clearly seen the benefits IoT brings adoption of digitalization in companies where logistics or fleets play a supporting role – any kind of business operation with an existing warehouse or logistics operation internally to support their main operations – is all over the map.  Looking at companies like Budbee or other CEPs, I can see they are more used to working with real-time information and data collection, because it has been crucial to them solving their customer needs and challenges. Logistics that are part of a larger operation, such as a production facility, may have even more to gain with IoT technology

Adding more data points to any production plant brings many of the same benefits as it would to a purely logistics operation, although many warehouses or production plans do need a larger amount of digitalization, because with more data collections points, the more insights you’re going to get. So, not only will you be able track vehicles, you will also be able to track movement in your warehouse, which in turn can reduce injuries, increase efficiencies, and more precisely predict where things could go wrong in advance. Additionally, IoT can also act as a foundation for building out IoT solutions – AI, robots, cobots, droids, etc. – when the time is right.

When people ask me what I do I tell them that I’m a solution consultant, which sounds very specific but doesn’t really tell you anything concrete. Basically, my job is to advise customers on the latest technologies in communications, and also hardware. The customer is focused on what they do best, which is their business, while we focus on what we do best, which is IoT.  We have the knowledge of IoT and the knowledge of connectivity and the different ways of creating your own IoT cloud, etc. That’s really heart of what I do. 

Customers usually have an idea about what they want to accomplish, but don’t always know the exact route they should take. I take their needs and desires and translate those into a technology solution. I advise them about the best way forward for their IoT solution, while keeping a close eye on the future.

I get a lot of questions around LTE-M – our customers are very eager to use it and are eager to know when roaming agreements will be in place in different regions. This is particularly important when it comes to customers who are doing Covid tracking, especially in Asia. 

Right now, LPWA technologies like LTE-M and NB-IoT are often the right solution due to battery capabilities and power consumption – and with LTE-M, stability. But of course, there could be other options that are more suitable – it all depends on their needs and what they want to do.  

There are times, of course, when a customer wants to do something and it’s not possible. Often, customers want to be able to reach their devices from the internet, but that’s a completely insecure way of building your IoT setup, so for security reasons we don’t support it. This sometimes needs a bit of extra explaining as to why using the public internet to communicate with their devices is going to be nothing but headaches. 

Security is always important when talking about IoT and emerging technologies such as LTE-M and 5G, because these mean we’re heading into massive IoT – and that the attack surface will increase.  

Normally, when I talk about security, I pinpoint several factors. You don’t want to read in the newspaper that your cloud was compromised. Basically, you want to stay away from the public internet, and you want secure communication.  If you want to go for high level security as step number two in a big IoT deployment, you consider it from day one. If you deploy 5000 devices and then start thinking about security, you will have to re-do the whole thing, so it’s important to think about it from the beginning – this will save a lot of effort, a lot of time. If you’re connecting to an open internet connection, nearly anyone can influence it. There are a few examples of temperature readers that were compromised, and all the data was fake – you don’t want this to happen to you.  

The second step would be to ask how you will communicate your data traffic from the mobile network towards your application or your cloud. Will you do it with just raw data over the internet? Will you use a certain level of encryption? Is the device too small or too cheap to limit your options and/or you don’t want to use device resources to enable your security?  If this is case, you can still move your data over IPSec VPN, which still goes over the internet, but it elevates your security. If you really want to stay away from the internet – perhaps your solution is mission critical, such as healthcare or utilities – then you can use private interconnect – fixed lines – from our mobile network straight into your cloud, which would be extremely secure. 

When it comes to hardware, I won’t advise them on specific hardware, but I will advise them on technology that might suit them best, and of course we have a number of excellent hardware vendors in our partner network who are able to meet the needs of customers. I try to bring the two parties together and let them do what they’re good at. Basically, I let them know what options are available and would be best suited for their particular solution. 

Basically, my job is to use my knowledge and experience to help the customer implement their IoT solution in the best way possible, and to create a future proof solution from day one. We don’t want to sell anything to customers and then have them come back in three months or a year or two with problems or want to do things completely different. We want them to get it right and not have to change their roadmap well into the process. No one wins if that happens, so I make sure it doesn’t. If the foundation is laid and it’s solid it’s much less likely problems will arise – and if challenges do arise, everyone is in a good position to address them.  

If you’d like to learn more about how IoT can enable your business, please get in touch.

Arjen Zijlstra
Solution Consultant
Tele2 IoT

Digitalization is one of those cool words that are generously used in many contexts by almost everyone in any industry. In that sense it is a close relative of “sustainability” or “security”. While such generous utilization of these words is making us feel like they lose their “wow factor”, their weight doesn’t change and their criticality in our ever-changing 21^st century society has never been more important.

We are living in an era of rapid changes and disruptions. Throughout the history, there has always been a constant evolution in our lifestyles, how we communicate, how we travel, how we make decisions or how we do business, but the speed of change experienced in recent years has been breathtaking.

Perhaps one of the most striking changes we have been experiencing is the change in the concept of time. These days, a lot happens in a year. We are truly experiencing “Exponential Times”. Just last year, scientists announced that the earth is actually spinning faster and 2020 included the 28 shortest days since 1960.  Perhaps this is the “fun” root cause of this change in the concept of time.

Regardless of the cosmic reasons, we are now producing the same amount of data produced in all of human history in just one year. Having laid down a global, efficient, and secure mobile communication infrastructure over the course of several decades and cutting-edge technological advancements in machinery and computational power are of course the main enablers of this exponential surge.

The main driver behind all this is the fact that information is now the most important asset for both people and companies. Companies that can collect the information efficiently and make good use of it are growing. We see a business world where even the top 500 companies are disrupted and replaced by new players who utilize innovations better. The rules of the game are rapidly changing, and companies are emerging and reaching giant status without any form of ownership by offering services via software. Even cosmetics and textile companies add digital notions to their products and define themselves as technology companies.

The rules of the game are changing – and so are the expectations of our customers. In order to keep up with this change, manufacturers need to offer new products much faster. Just like Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, said, “In the new world, it is not the big fish which eats the small fish, it’s the fast fish which eats the slow fish.”

Products are updated every year. This means faster innovation cycles, and more complex but smaller quantities of production. Customers would like to have more personalized products without having to pay extra. Production has to be more flexible than ever, and personalized mass production requires maximum automation. Moreover, the market now needs to have complete production quality cycles and product traceability in order to comply with the global and variable legal quality requirements. And, of course, we have to do all of this with both cost savings and maximum efficiency in mind for a sustainable world. The new motto is “More with Less”.

All of this is possible if the exponentially increasing and ever-changing data can be collected and processed efficiently to create actionable intelligence. However, it is not possible if processes keep depending on human-speed. Machine learning algorithms should massage the collected data into an intelligible format. Organizations have to update in order to be ready to act quickly on the collected data and implement necessary updates in designs, production, distribution, or any other area. In fact, industries are only processing 1% of their generated data. We are only at the beginning of Industry 4.0 and we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. Some part of this data mountain can be processed at the edge depending on applications, but a big portion should still be transferred securely to centralized computing facilities.

As a connectivity provider, we at Tele2 IoT are at the heart of this giant transformation. Our horizontal structure enables us to work with any industry. One thing we are seeing that it is not just production that is changing – central energy production is being replaced by distributed generation, and the management of supply and demand with smart grids appears as a very important subheading. This is followed by smart cities, smart buildings and homes, and even healthcare. All of this has to be orchestrated in the smartest way possible.