T-Mobile US and Deutsche Telekom launched T-IoT, a new enterprise solution for global IoT connectivity, platform management and support.
In a joint statement, the companies said that the new offering will be available across 188 destinations, on 383 networks worldwide.
The companies also noted that many enterprises around the world haven’t fully captured value at scale from IoT. A major reason for this, they said, is that the deployment of multinational IoT connections requires that enterprises have to cobble together a patchwork of operator agreements—all with different contracts, service level agreements, management interfaces, and customer support. The firms also said that each carrier has its own payment model which makes it hard for businesses to effectively scale IoT across the globe.
However, they added that their new T-IoT will “deliver worldwide network connectivity spanning the full range of technologies to support nearly every possible IoT scenario” including NB-IoT, LTE-M, LTE, and 5G.
The new offering also features a “single pane of glass” to view, and eventually, to manage global IoT connections across several platforms, including T-Mobile Control Center and Deutsche Telekom M2M Service Portal, the companies said. They added that their offering also has a simplified procurement process that includes streamlined contract and billing, consistent global service level agreements and customer support.
T-IoT is offering both a pay-per-data model or a choice of three flat-rate unlimited connectivity packages across the U.S. and Europe, according to a company release.
Hagen Rickmann, managing director for business customers at Telekom Deutschland, said: “Many industries, such as healthcare or automotive, depend on international supply chains. And their customers today rely on receiving service and assistance anywhere in the world. We’re able to do that with this transatlantic collaboration, with our networks, for the best customer experience, worldwide.”
“With millions of connected Mercedes-Benz vehicles in nearly every corner of the world today, and up to 20 million connected cars in our fleet by 2025, we need to be able to rely on telecommunications partners like T-IoT, that offer us global network coverage and an ecosystem for IoT leadership,” said Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes Benz Group AG. “Real-time, high-bandwidth data transmission is key to digital innovation. 5G technology in IoT scenarios will allow our vehicles to communicate with the speed and reliability needed to offer our customers greater efficiency through improved routing and improved safety.”
The partners also pointed to the example of customer Biotronik, a global medical device company based In Berlin, which relies on global IoT connectivity for a medical device home monitoring solution.
“We combine digital medical solutions and state-of-the-art communication technology. With Home Monitoring, the patient’s vital data are digitally available to the medical team and are constantly analyzed. If threshold values are exceeded, the medical team can react immediately,” said Volker Lang, SVP of research and development at Biotronik. “This only works with an absolutely reliable network that transmits the data reliably at all times. We are active in over 100 countries. The T-IoT infrastructure is indispensable for us.”