Vodafone Celebrate Connecting 200 Million Internet of Things Devices
Global broadband and mobile giant Vodafone has today announced that they’ve made their 200 millionth Internet of Things (IoT) device connection, including more than a quarter of those located in Germany and some 13 million of the total coming from the United Kingdom.
The Internet of Things (IoT) typically refers to special devices (inc. software and other technologies) that connect with other devices to exchange data, such as low power smart sensors. This may include devices and machines that monitor energy consumption, people’s health, factory production, the environment or farming systems etc.
The device that achieved the 200 million milestone ended up being a healthcare monitor connected by Vodafone to its globally managed IoT network, which provides doctors with vital information about a patient’s cardiac health and certain vital signs remotely. By comparison, the very first of Vodafone’s 200 million IoT devices was an in-car window-screen mounted navigation unit, which was connected back in 2009.
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In the last five years, Vodafone has more than doubled the number of IoT connections in its network to over 200 million. This growth has been driven by organisations investing in new digital technologies to boost productivity, strengthen supply-chains, tracks assets, and collect data for analysis.
Marika Auramo, CEO of Vodafone Business, said:
“This major milestone underlines the critical role Vodafone’s global IoT network plays in supporting many thousands of businesses and public sector organisations in more than 180 countries. Whether it’s connecting smart sensors or industrial robots, our digital network infrastructure is transforming lives and powering economies.”
Vodafone added that they are also integrating their IoT SIM directly into a chipset of a device at the point of manufacture. Known as iSIM, it is said to simplify processes, reduces their costs and automates deployment of the network service. This makes the technology particularly effective for large-scale IoT deployments, like smart labels used to track parcels through their journey, or smart meters.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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It’s a real shame they’ve shut down their customer support forum in the UK, though, there was a lot of useful information on there
Common trend among technology companies, might encourage people with other people’s money to pay for exorbitant support contracts.
That or they paywall the firmware and keep the forums up. Like the likes of fortinet.