CES 2016: Ericsson also wants to build smarter cities with software, analytics
LAS VEGAS---Following up AT&T and Cisco on Tuesday, Ericsson also illuminated more on its dream for smarter cities and homes.
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And much like its tech titan brethren, Ericsson cited the Internet of Things -- essentially the foundation for everything at the Consumer Electronics Show this week -- as the fuel to light up smart cities.
Ericsson is taking a more clear cut approach in its strategy as far as software and analytics go, illustrating more of the nitty-gritty data and tech involved rather than the potential end results for business and lifestyle dreamed (or just assumed) to become possible thanks to connected apps and devices.
The Swedish corporation introduced three new IoT-based services on Wednesday, pitched primarily toward communications and utility providers.
One of them, dubbed Smart Metering as a Service (SMaaS), actually builds upon some pre-existing tech at Ericsson as the tech company boasted it already supports more than 42 million utility meters worldwide. This new and improved SMaaS is supposed to grow into a more fleshed out, end-to-end platform for automating and managing smart meters and the data they accumulate.
Taking that data to the next level, User & IoT Data Analytics consists of an analytics engine that can be deployed by telecom operators within their subscriber databases to trace and visualize more comprehensive profiles on customer behavior and data usage across networks.
Rounding out the trio is a phase entitled "Diversifying Cellular for Massive IoT," which actually translates to software upgrades for LTE connections to existing network infrastructures, especially for IoT apps developed for metering and sensor monitoring. These upgrades are supposed to speed up connectivity while promising to slash module costs by as much as 90 percent while offering seven times better coverage.
As Ericsson said it will deploy the first "complete cellular low-power, wide-area (LPWA) offering" later this year, the Ericsson Networks Software 17A for Massive IoT upgrades are scheduled to be available by the fourth quarter of 2016.