By GIFT NDOLWANE
JOHANNESBURG – HUAWEI, the information and communication technology (ICT) solutions provider, believes cooperation with partners to build a profitable ecosystem is key to accelerating the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) in South Africa.
Zhu Ming, Huawei’s IoT Regional Director, delivering a keynote address at the MTN IoT Conference and Awards 2017, said IoT was still in its early stages of development but already there was significant demand for solutions in various industries.
These include utilities, insurance and manufacturing.
“MTN is an important strategic partner for Huawei and we both share a common vision of growing South Africa’s IoT sector, so it is a great opportunity for us to be participating in this event and celebrating IoT entrepreneurs,” said Ming.
Huawei and MTN are already working together in the IoT space, which is focused on Smart Refrigeration, Smart Water and Usage-based Insurance Solutions.
“In Africa the opportunity is great for using Narrow Band IoT solutions (NB-IoT), because this network gives us wide and deep coverage and devices that are deployed have a very long battery life,” said Ming.
Huawei is building an IoT OpenLab in Johannesburg to enable more innovative IoT solutions for its partners in Africa.
This will allow Huawei’s partners, like MTN, to develop new services with a very quick time to market.
– Guardian