Good news about Sigfox in South Africa

Sigfox South Africa has big plans to expand and densify its network, enhance its ecosystem, and lower barriers to adoption in 2025.

The Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity service provider’s expansion plans aim to improve service quality in critical IoT sectors like stolen vehicle recovery and home security systems while also improving coverage.

“2025 will see a continued push for network expansion and densification,” Sigfox South Africa told MyBroadband.

“By strategically placing new base stations in areas where there is high demand and the potential for enhanced customer experience, Sigfox SA plans to optimise its network’s reach and performance.”

It added that the improved connectivity and service reliability will create new opportunities for businesses to deploy more efficient IoT solutions.

The IoT giant also wants to focus on collaboration to address the disconnect between hardware manufacturers and system integrators within their ecosystem.

“In 2025, Sigfox will be rolling out new products and services aimed at bridging this gap and creating a more cohesive environment,” said Sigfox South Africa.

“These products and services will enable system integrators and hardware vendors to better identify and resolve customer pain points.”

It said this will include faster routes to market for entrepreneurs, solution providers, and hardware manufacturers.

“By building a more cohesive ecosystem, Sigfox SA aims to streamline the development of IoT solutions, making it easier for businesses to adopt and integrate these technologies into their operations,” it said.

It added that a cohesive ecosystem will help customers get the most out of IoT and speed up innovation within the South African market.

Sigfox SA’s 2025 strategy aims to make IoT solutions more accessible to businesses and consumers in the country. It noted that IoT adoption can be hindered by high upfront costs and complex integration.

“These strategies will make IoT solutions more accessible to businesses, enabling them to leverage connected devices without heavy upfront investments,” it said.

An example of this is its Box ID solution, a Sigfox SA-supported asset-tracking platform for businesses.

“Box ID offers powerful features such as geofencing, flow analysis, and asset distribution reporting, positioning it as a full asset management system,” said Sigfox SA.

“For businesses looking to track and manage assets efficiently, this solution will lower the entry cost for accessing reliable, real-time data on asset location and movement.”

Box ID offers two certified hardware options: “triple track” and “double track” devices. The former uses Sigfox, GPS, and Wi-Fi for comprehensive tracking, while the “double track” option removes GPS tracking.

“We continue to drive the barriers to entry down to enable higher adoption within the Sigfox network through lower cost of entry,” said Sigfox SA CEO, Gregory Rood.

Sigfox SA secures smart water metering contract

In early June 2024, South Africa’s National Treasury awarded Sigfox SA the RT29 tender, which will see it replace or adapt existing meters to run on its IoT network.

“All the new smart meters will run on the nationwide Sigfox IoT network,” said Sigfox South Africa.

The company said this would improve revenue connection and service delivery, adding that the contract was awarded to various system integrators.

Rood said the change will enable real-time and more accurate consumer billing while improving the management of South Africa’s water resources.

“Water is a basic human right, and we are proud to be associated with the provision of such essential services, supporting both revenue collections and provision,” said Rood.

“We expect this to be a catalyst to further grow our local IoT and system integrator ecosystem.”

He said Sigfox was selected due to its extensive coverage, robust technology, lower power consumption, and service licence agreements.

“The Sigfox SA network already covers 91% of the South African population. Should there be a need to extend or densify the network, this can be achieved quickly and cost-effectively,” he added.

Sigfox’s low-power network technology allows a device to run on the same battery for over a decade, with Rood describing it as a “install and forget” scenario.