China Telecom, Bridge Alliance Align to Offer Regional M2M/IoT Services

China Telecom signed an IoT business partnership agreement with Bridge Alliance, enabling China Telecom to provide Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine to Machine (M2M) services to multinational enterprise customers across Bridge Alliance's footprint.

Bridge Alliance is a global mobile alliance covering 34 countries or regions in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. According to independent research and advisory firm Analysys Mason, Bridge Alliance is one of the best-positioned operator groups to provide enterprise mobility services to corporations in Asia Pacific.

This non-exclusive partnership comes at an opportune moment, where Asia Pacific is riding high on the IoT momentum. The region, excluding Japan, is forecasted to be the IoT investment leader, with an expected spend reaching $455 billion in 2021.

The agreement leverages Bridge Alliance's technical and commercial capabilities to provide homogenous solutions across its footprint. This enables China Telecom's customers to apply a 'glocalised' approach tapping on the simplicity of one single integration with China Telecom and the full support and service quality of local networks in Bridge Alliance.

Similarly, Bridge Alliance members can now extend their IoT services to China through China Telecom. As both China Telecom and Bridge Alliance operators have deployed common connectivity platforms, international enterprise customers can have the same experience when deploying their solutions across the footprint of China Telecom and Bridge Alliance. China Telecom will support different collaboration models with Bridge Alliance members for such connectivity requirements into China.

"We are excited to join Bridge Alliance as a business partner. China Telecom has a strong portfolio of multinational enterprise customers who are looking to deploy their products and services across the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions. Bridge Alliance is the ideal partner to fulfil such requirements. Likewise, China Telecom is also ready to support any inbound opportunities from the member operators into China. With the supporting common platform and the business opportunities across these different regions, we are confident this partnership will be a mutually beneficial and win-win business collaboration," said Deng Xiao Feng, Managing Director of Global Business Department of China Telecom.

"We are pleased and excited about this partnership with China Telecom. With the growing China market, the addition of China Telecom to Bridge Alliance's network of partners will certainly bolster our position to serve our global enterprise customers better. We look forward to future collective wins and co-innovating with China Telecom," said Eileen Tan, CEO of Bridge Alliance.