Ooredoo Betting Big on “Internet of Things” to Drive Growth

Ooredoo is promoting its success in further developing its Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) portfolio for customers across its footprint at the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Demand for IoT/M2M solutions, which enable business assets to communicate directly with each other or with a central command centre, is rising strongly, as more companies look to automate day-to-day activities.

According to a recent industry report, the global cellular M2M market will grow from USD 3.22 billion in 2015 to USD 11.50 billion by 2020, driven in part by decreasing connectivity costs and increasing demand for solutions like fleet management. In particular, Ooredoo is seeing strong growth in Southeast Asia and North Africa, as companies and organisations look for innovative IoT solutions to daily business challenges.

Ooredoo has expanded its Managed Connectivity solution, IoT Connect, developed in partnership with Ericsson and based on its Device Connection Platform (DCP). The solution, which has already been made available in Indonesia, Tunisia and Kuwait, provides customers with full control of their IoT/M2M connectivity, thanks to a cloud-based M2M platform. In addition, Ooredoo has enhanced IoT Connect to offer seamless M2M connectivity to customers who want to operate in North Africa, Middle East and/or South East Asia.

Ooredoo’s cloud-based infrastructure enables companies to access their IoT/M2M SIM network seamlessly across all markets, reducing costs and providing greater central control.

H.E. Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “Ooredoo sees huge potential for M2M technology in all our operations, as more enterprises look to deploy the power of the Internet of Things. We have a clear roadmap for the development of IoT services, including ongoing investment in delivering a global, cloud-based solution for our customers, and we have a series of exciting new solutions in development with our global network of partners.”

Ooredoo is also offering end-to-end vertical solutions such as Fleet Management in a range of major markets, and has seen significant success in Indonesia, where its M2M Vehicle Telematics solution has seen strong take-up.

Ooredoo is working with a wide range of enterprises, government and small businesses to develop solutions on its IoT/M2M platforms. These include solutions for Business-to-Business (B2B) processes such as procurement, billing/charging, and even Business-to-Consumer (B2C) processes, such as retail for consumers. In addition, it is developing solutions for the monitoring of M2M traffic, online ordering and ticketing functions using the IoT Platform.