eCall is a European Union (EU) emergency call system for vehicles that aims to bring rapid assistance to motorists involved in a collision anywhere in the EU. eCall is designed to enhance protection and safety while reducing fatalities caused by road accidents, as well as related injuries, and property loss. The EU implemented the mandated deployment of eCall for new cars and light trucks 31 March 2018.

Why eCall?

All around the world, roads are shared by vehicles of all kinds, yet traffic accidents remain a leading cause of death. Each year, 1.35 million people are killed on roadways globally, with crash injuries estimated to be the 8^th leading cause of death globally for all age groups. And the annual cost to society in monetary terms is in the billions.

While governments around the world have launched any number of road safety initiatives to reduce accidents, they’ve mostly focused on enhancing and improving road infrastructure. To provide a critical service that can save lives, the EU has taken a new approach with its pioneering eCall, which is an example of the connected car concept, leveraging IoT technology, real-time data transmission, and enhanced safety features.

How eCall works

In the event of an accident, eCall technology makes an immediate emergency notification via activation of in-vehicle sensors, or manually by vehicle occupants. When activated, eCall provides relevant location information to European Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) by means of mobile wireless communication networks. As all European PSAPs are equipped to receive eCall, it is expected that many existing vehicles will be retrofitted with after-market eCall devices.

1. Emergency notification: eCall is automatically activated when a vehicle’s sensors detect a severe crash, autonomously dialing 112, the European emergency number.
2. Location: Connectivity enables positioning, establishing a telephone link with the relevant call canter, with details of the accident, including position, sent.
3. PSAO operators dispatch appropriate assistance.
4. Faster help: eCall can increase response time by 40% in urban areas, and 50% in rural areas, reducing the number of fatalities by a minimum of 4%, and the number of severe injuries by 6%.

Connectivity & IoT technology

While eCall devices normally have a separate SIM and rely on voice, there is no support for VoLTE, which may make them vulnerable to the sunsetting of 2G/3G networks. This is due current eCall deployments based on standards from 15-years ago. Work on next generation eCall is currently underway, and an upgrade mandate is expected to be launched as many European telecom operators sunset their GSM networks.

OEMs are recommended to equip their vehicles with a multi-network generation TCU (Telematics Control Unit), while PSAPs should include next generation eCall over LTE in their plans for receiving emergency calls via IPT networks.

Next generation eCall is an evolution of the existing eCall service, based on IMS (IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem) using 4G/5G technology. While there is not yet an EU-level decision on implementation of next generation eCall, the European Commission (EC) is preparing regulatory amendments for the transition of emergency communications, including eCall, to packet-switched IMS-based networks. In accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/444, member states are required to prepare a roadmap for the upgrade. Under current proposals from the EC, PSAPs are required to support next generation eCall from 1 January 2026.

Note that eCall does not allow vehicle tracking outside of emergencies, meaning that end-user data and privacy is protected. The eCall device is dormant and is only activated when vehicle sensors react to a severe crash. Directive 95/46/EC states that vehicles with 112-based eCall systems must be protected against continuous tracking and tracing during normal operations/day-to-day travel. In order to meet regulations, digital security technology is embedded into eCall equipment to prevent misuse and protect privacy.

The European Union expects 100% penetration of eCall to be achieved by 2035, with the number of road deaths and serious injuries reduced by 50% between 2020 and 2030.

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

Not all that long ago, the idea of autonomous vehicles was the stuff of sci-fi dreams. Fast forward a few years and suddenly many thought they’d be sitting back and scrolling on their phones while their self-driving car got them from point A to point B.  Today, we’ve landed somewhere in the middle. Fully autonomous cars are not quite yet a reality, but there has been exponential growth in self-driving features. And when it comes to other modes of transport, such as public transport, we’ve already boarded the proverbial autonomous bus. 

When we talk about autonomous cars it’s good to keep in mind that there are 5 levels of autonomy.  

• Level 1: Some small steering or acceleration tasks are performed by the vehicle without human intervention 
• Level 2: Includes things like advanced cruise control and the car automatically taking safety precautions while the driver remains alert.  
• Level 3: Still requires a human driver, but a number of safety-critical functions are performed by the vehicle under specific traffic and/or environmental conditions. This level is where potential danger starts to be seen 
• Level 4: The car can drive itself almost all thetime, butcan be programmed to not drive in unmapped areas or under certain weather conditions. Car makers in the self-driving area want to be here 
• Level 5: Full automation in all conditions

To put these levels in perspective, when the car industry talks about ‘self-driving’, they are referring to levels 3 and 4. Yet despite the herculean efforts being made by leading players in the tech and automotive industries, we won’t be taking a nap in the back seat of our car while it takes us to work any time soon. This despite any number of announcements over the past few years about plans to bring self-driving cars to our streets. The only self-driving cars on the roads right now are in a handful of cities that are conducting readiness tests. There are a number of reasons for this. 

• Fatal accidents cause by the few partially or fully automated cars being tested
• Algorithms not yet fully developed
• Connections unable to maintain speedy and steady data exchange
• Software vulnerable to attacks

Additionally, it’s not just smart software but also smart roads that are needed to allow cars to run independently, which means cities will need to adapt their road infrastructure. When looking at these factors it’s easy to understand why self-driving cars haven’t advanced as far as predicted – and why the hoped-for ‘start’ date keeps being pushed back.  

But it’s not all bad news: even as engineers continue to develop cutting-edge technologies to advance the case of self-driving cars, the advent of 5G, along with powerful embedded top-down computers will allow stronger and better internet connections and near real-time data flow. And if we look beyond self-driving cars, there are a lot of autonomous vehicles already in play, where lessons can be learned.  

Beyond self-driving cars 

If we look past self-driving cars, we can see a different picture of autonomous vehicles.  Public transport is where we have already boarded the proverbial autonomous bus – and we’ve been on it for quite some time. 

The first driverless metro system was inaugurated in Kobe, Japan in 1991, and since then their popularity has only grown, with 63 fully automated operation lines in 42 cities across 19 countries. The benefits are clear: safety, flexibility, punctuality, cost efficiency, and perhaps most importantly, passenger satisfaction. Denmark’s capital city Copenhagen established its award-winning fully autonomous subway system in 2002 and saw commuters switching from other modes of transport to the metro, including up to 47% of bus passengers and 20% of local train passengers. Even today, nearly two decades later, a regular survey shows that 98% of travelers on the metro are either “happy” or “very happy” with the service.  

If we look at automated metros through a different lens, we can see that the first 500km of automated lines were built over the course of 29 years – but once the technology was proven, it took just eight years for that number to double. According to the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), there will be over 2,300km of fully automated metro lines in operation globally by 2025. UITP says that there is a diversity of profiles of lines and cities around the world, which demonstrates that there are a broad range of services that automated lines can offer to meet the mobility challenges of cities as rapid urbanization continues.

Moving away from the streets and into our factories, we can see that there is an ever-increasing number of semi and fully autonomous vehicles within manufacturing operations and even in the field, such as in mining. Free-range Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), mobile robots, autonomous forklifts and cranes, and even low-payload drones are being implemented. Issues related to retrofitting, safety concerns, and lack of skills/knowledge about the technology are cited as among the barriers to adoption, yet most also recognize the cost advantages to adopting industry mobility, such as cost savings, customer/supply requirements and expectations, increased safety, and employee expectations and preferences. 

Other industries where autonomous vehicles are making themselves invaluable include airports and agriculture. In addition to beginning automation in areas like baggage handling and shuttles, airports are already seeking new airport maintenance solutions, such as autonomous tractors to keep runway edge lights clear of snow., where the technology has already been tested.  This is happening alongside other solutions using automatic mowing and friction measurement systems. Snow clearing is a vital function at airports, where runways must be completely clear of snow in order to enable flight take offs and landings. Many airports currently have staff on standby to clear snow when and where needed, but automated snowplows free up staff to put their focus on other safety-related tasks not suitable for automation.  

In agriculture, autonomous vehicles already represent $3 billion in investment, a number that is projected to grow to $12 billion by 2026, with controlling costs while increasing output the main drivers. For example, one autonomous tractor equipped with connected sensors can work unmanned 24/7, while another can provide guidance on fertilizer application. Other autonomous vehicles can patrol the fields collecting data on soil conditions and other factors that impact crops, such as weather conditions.  

There are many other examples of how autonomous vehicles are already playing an important role in business and one thing is clear: as technology advances and as 5G enables real-time data, usage will continue to grow exponentially.

If you would like to learn more about how Tele2 IoT can enable your business, please get in touch.  

Ever since electric vehicles (EVs) started to become a viable transport alternative, the phrase ‘range anxiety’ has been tossed about, with most pundits citing the fear of not being able to reach your destination without running out of power as a barrier to EV adoption. Even today, range anxiety is still mentioned as one of the top reasons why people are reticent about transitioning to electric vehicles. The funny thing is, though, that almost as soon as this phrase became part of the conversation, it became a myth. And some would argue that range anxiety was never a thing in the first place. So, let’s look at expectations and why ‘range anxiety’ doesn’t match with reality.

In 2011, when the first major EV was released to the market (the Nissan LEAF for those interested) you would get maybe 160km out of a full battery charge. And for some, that would be enough to make you nervous about running out of power, especially when the network of charging stations back then was minimal.

By 2015, though, the average EV had a range of around 200km, while today it hovers around 350km – a number that is expected to rise to around 400km in the not-too-distant future. And the charging station network? It has grown by leap and bounds. In the UK, there were 37,261 EV charge points spread across 22,049 charging locations by the end of December 2022 – a 31% increase from the previous year. In the EU,there were roughly 375,000 charging stations by the end of 2021, with that number expected to increase rapidly in the coming years.

Expectations vs reality

Those who cite range anxiety might have visions of being stranded on some roadside with no charging station in sight – and no ability to ‘fill up a gas canister’ for an emergency top up. But how far do people drive and where are they going?

If we look at the numbers, a study conducted on more than 600 000 vehicles across Europe showed that 8 in ten drivers travel less than 100km a day. That same study finds that 6 in ten drivers travel less than 50km a day. To break it down even further, in the UK, the average trip length is 8.4km, while globally, the average daily car journey is around 15 minutes or about 15km. In Europe, internal combustion engine (ICE) drivers average just 13,600km per year, while EV drivers are clocking up averages of 14,200km annually. In the US, 95% of car journeys are under 48km, with 60% less than 9km.

So, what does this tell us? That most of our time behind the wheel is spent on short, stop-start journeys – but even if those trips are longer, range anxiety really isn’t a realistic factor.

Here are a few individual EV model ranges to give you an idea of scope. Range, of course, varies due to things like weather and payload, along with factors such as city, highway, or rural driving. This means Real Range is an industry calculated average – and it’s important to note that the median range for EVs has increased by 56% in the last 6 years or so.

As you can see, the range numbers vary a great deal and this has to do with battery size, but even on the lower end you aren’t likely to run out of juice mid-trip. Most people charge their EVs at home, usually overnight, and while this has previously presented a challenge to those living in apartments, this too is changing as public charging stations rapidly grow in numbers, along with landlords installing charging stations in parking areas.  And while the number of EV charging stations does not yet match the number of gas stations, the rapid EV adoption we are currently experiencing means that will change very quickly.

Here in the Nordics, three in four new cars sold are EVs, and there are about five EVs on the road for every public charging point – people don’t all charge at once and many of us will be charging at home, so the fear of not being able to top up or having to wait in a ‘first come/first serve’ model is no longer really an issue. There are also myriad new solutions coming to market, including in-transit charging points and mobile charging stations.

And then there is the very basic fact that nearly all car manufacturers are investing in EVs and committing being part of the EV ecosystem expansion. VW alone has committed to installing nearly 3 000 new charging stations in the US, while a European high-power charging networs has committed €700 million in investment to enable rapid EV charging network expansion and accelerated growth across Europe. And there are new governmental schemes and investment being announced all the time, both on the local and national levels. In fact, the European Union has decided that the sale of new internal combustion engines will be banned by 2035, and all new cars will be battery-electric, meaning the automotive industry will play a big role in the battle for carbon neutrality by 2050.

To learn more about EVs and the ecosystem around them, download our EV Ecosystem White Paper.

Anyone who spends time in cities won’t have missed the rise in popularity of micromobility (aka urban mobility). Small, lightweight vehicles such as e-scooters and e-bikes provide affordable, accessible, and eco-friendly transportation that is also cost-effective, and are seen as the answer to gridlocked cities and urban air pollution. Ernst & Young has called e-scooters the ‘fastest growing mode of transport ever documented’.  In fact, the micromobility market is expected to enjoy CAGR of 16 percent from $3 billion in 2019 to $12 billion by 2027. This growth is due to both changes in consumer sentiment, where micromobility solutions are increasingly seen as viable commuter options, and the industry itself willingly tackling some of its more pressing issues, such as parking. Micromobility is also getting a boost from city planners, who are prioritizing greater sustainability and efficiency and the reduction of car use within city boundaries.

Logistics is complex and involves the coordination of multiple elements. Today, with increasing demand for online deliveries, shorter delivery cycles, growing competition, and shrinking margins enterprises are under more pressure than ever to ensure that their logistics management is streamlined and efficient. Digitalization and the introduction of IoT technologies has allowed the industry to experience a huge increase in efficiency: optimizing processes, staying competitive with market rivals, increasing quality of service, and keeping costs under control.

With IoT, businesses are able to integrate assets within the supply chain into a single system. Data collection and tracking capabilities are providing visibility across the entire value chain to enhance and improve everything from warehouse efficiency to fleet management.

So, why invest in an IoT logistics solution and why integrate connected technology into your operations. Here’s why:

Warehouse & storage

With IoT, you can be aware of every moving part in your warehouse. Connected sensors can keep tight control over your inventory by tracking and analyzing inventory positions and stock levels across your operation. Smart shelves provide inventory information, alerting you when stocks are low, products are displaced, temperatures are unsuitable, when there is theft, etc. Additionally, wearables allow you to track employee health, location, and performance, as well as report collisions and falls, improving safety across your operation. IoT sensors can also track operating conditions of machines and other equipment, allowing for maximum productivity, as well as predictive maintenance – which reduces costs of repairs and keeps downtime to a minimum.

End-to-end product tracking

Transparency is the name of the game when you integrate IoT-technology into logistics. An IoT tracking system allows logistics managers to track any product’s movement from the warehouse to your customer’s doorstep. This establishes transparency, reduces human error (and the resulting pressure on staff), and increases customer satisfaction. Real-time delivery tracking becomes seamless and reduces headaches for everyone because you will be able to tell any customer calling to find out where their delivery is exactly where it is and when it will arrive. This also saves on time for your customer service reps, who can easily pinpoint exactly where a delivery is.

Fleet management

An IoT-based vehicle tracking and management system allows you to easily monitor your fleet. IoT devices provide accurate data so you can save time and money, as well as reduce downtime – and in the end that means better, and more-data driven business decisions.

• Engine performance
• Fuel consumption
• Location-based information
• Driver behavior
• Predictive maintenance

Forecasting accuracy

With all that data being generated and analyzed, you will be able to get a very clear picture on everything from how much time it takes to sell a given amount of product and how to optimize deliveries of that product to which vendors have better track records and which distribution centers have higher conversion rates. The result? Much better accuracy when planning operations and predicting outcomes. By moving you to data-based decision making, human error is significantly reduced. And all that automatic data collection means you not only save on manhours that would previously been spent manually collecting data, you can also collect data that would have been difficult or impossible to collect without IoT.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of IoT in your logistics operation, please get in touch..

When managed correctly, IoT can be hugely beneficial to your business model, increasing efficiency, reducing operational costs, improving customer loyalty, and helping you to make better and more informed decisions. But once you’ve extracted efficiencies how can the right business model help you to enhance profit margins? 

Just as IoT is continuing to evolve, so too is how it is being monetized. And while some companies think about monetizing after launching IoT, an increasing number are launching products with a recurring IoT revenue model already in mind. While there is no one-size-fits-all business model for monetizing IoT, there are a number of approaches to consider. The one that will be most advantageous to you will ultimately depend on what you’re offering.

In this article, we will look at three different business models that will help you strategize monetizing your IoT solution:

• Subscription
• As-a-service
• Asset sharing

Subscription

Using an IoT subscription model allows businesses to generate recurring revenue through their connected devices. In other words, instead of making a one-off sale, you instead offer a subscription to your customer where a fee is charged for periodic usage, such as monthly or annually. Think of it as the Netflix model for things like health monitors or air quality monitors. Instead of selling the movie (or the machine or the product, etc.), you are essentially leasing it to the customer – and by leasing it you control the product and can offer any number of add-on benefits, such as service packages, upgrades, etc.

Subscription models also allow you to develop an active – and pro-active – relationship with your customers, because instead of throwing products out there and seeing what sticks, you are instead gathering valuable data that will help you improve your customer offering, as well as develop features for specific clients or to meet specific market demands ahead of your competitors.

Subscription models are not without their challenges, though. Offering different subscription packages, options, add-ons, and levels, and not managing those correctly and efficiently can damage customer relations. Having processes in place to track various factors such as trial period length, subscription levels and tenure, and invoicing before you put your offer on the market will go a long way towards mitigating any issues.

The good news with this model is that your customer no longer has to pay a large amount of money up front for an expensive piece of equipment that will surely depreciate in value. Instead, you own and maintain the equipment – and when it comes time to replace it, you can refurbish the old model and sell or lease it into a different market.

As-a-service

As-a-service models, also known as ‘outcome-based’, mean delivering the results a customer wants. While somewhat similar to the subscription model in that it replaces products that your customer used to own and operate, the difference is this: with a subscription model your customer commits to a monthly or annual fee, while with an as-a-service model, your customer is invoiced for services based on volume and/or quality.

A good example of this would be a manufacturer of water pumps. Previously, the water pump company’s business model was selling pumps and success was selling a lot of pumps. But customers don’t really want pumps, they want get water from point A to point B, and then they might also want the water to do things for them, such as cool or power something. Providing an IoT-enabled water pump means you are no longer selling the pump and are instead selling the amount of water pumped, so the customer is paying for the outcome, which also allows them to scale up or scale down as needed.

So, instead of just selling a piece of machinery and calling it a day, using the as-a-service model means the point of sale is not the end of your relationship with your customer, it is the beginning, because you will now have responsibility for the performance and maintenance of the product. This brings new requirements for your company, of course, because you now also have the responsibility for the product’s performance throughout its lifecycle, ensuring its uptime and making better use of manpower when it comes to things like maintenance.

The good news, though, is that if you do this successfully, you will have built a strong relationship with the customer and are better aligned with their needs.

Asset sharing

We have already seen a lot of IoT-enabled asset sharing, whether that’s urban mobility e-scooters or car sharing. The idea is that instead of buying an expensive piece of equipment that the customer may not be able to utilize to its maximum capacity, customers instead share assets, thus reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and often helping to contribute to a more sustainable society.

If we look at cars, sharing this asset makes sense when you consider that 90% of the time your car is sitting in your driveway or in a parking garage, unused. If you apply an IoT asset sharing model, instead of the car sitting around unused for much of the day, you are instead selling the extra capacity back into the market, maximizing the utilization of the product across multiple customers. This results in reduced costs and even faster market penetration.

This same model can be applied to drones, bikes, and even power grids, where excess energy from smart commercial buildings can be sold back into the grid.

Of course, this model means changing behaviors, because a lot of people still want their ‘own’ car or their ‘own’ bicycle – but in cities in particular, asset sharing is taking off. Residents don’t want or need the hassle of maintaining a car in an urban environment, where parking is scarce, the value depreciates quickly, and there often isn’t a daily need to drive.

While all three of these models are related, they each have individual strengths, as well as some challenges. All of them can be – and are already being – applied to any number of business models. The key to understanding how IoT business models can be implemented for monetization is to look at your business from a fresh perspective, from a different angle. Where can you tweak your business model so that IoT not only streamlines processes but also generates new and often steady and sustainable revenues for your company, keeping you one step ahead of the competition and your eyes firmly on the swiftly evolving future?

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