Nokia is betting it can be a player in IoT by offering enterprises a single place to acquire a global IoT networking footprint. Here are the key details from its announcement at Mobile World Congress:
Nokia WING will manage the IoT connectivity and services needs of a client's assets, such as connected cars or connected freight containers, as they move around the globe, reducing the complexity for enterprises who would otherwise be required to work with multiple technology providers.
Connectivity is enabled by intelligent switching between cellular and non cellular networks. For example, a shipping container linked by satellite in the ocean could switch to being connected by a cellular network near a port.
Nokia will offer a full service model including provisioning, operations, security, billing and dedicated enterprise customer services from key operations command centers. The company will use its own IMPACT IoT platform for device management, subscription management and analytics. Nokia IMPACT subscription management for eSIM will automatically configure connectivity to a communication service provider's network as the asset crosses geographical borders.
Communication service providers can quickly take advantage of new business opportunities that will be made available by joining a global federation of IoT connectivity services. By leveraging their excess network capacity they will be able to serve enterprises that require near global IoT connectivity, rapidly and with little effort, to realize new revenue streams.
Nokia also plans to offer WING as a white-label product telcos and ISPs can use to create their own branded services.
WING arrives at an interesting time for the IoT market, says Constellation Research VP and principal analyst Andy Mullholland.
"There are starting to be questions as to why some analysts' predictions of millions of interconnected IoT devices within a couple of years hasn't happened," Mulholland says. "My simple reply is that the supporting telecommunications infrastructure offering the right services at the right price is still largely lacking. This announcement from Nokia puts another building block in place technically, but together with other technology elements such as LoRa it still has to be rolled out by telecoms."
"We seem to have the chicken and egg problem as to which comes first," he adds. "Is the lack of suitable infrastructure holding back demand, or is the demand not there for these new services? Meanwhile, the Intranet of Things continues to be rolled out within Enterprises in support of operational improvement."