Denmark becomes the fifth full-country supporter of SIGFOX’s IoT network

---

SIGFOX and IoT Denmark have unveiled plans to roll out the low-cost IoT network in the Scandinavian country.

---

SIGFOX, a French company that has developed a network tailored for electronic sensors and a host of other smart devices, has announced plans for its network to arrive in Denmark next year. Through a partnership with Copenhagen-based startup IoT Denmark, the Scandinavian nation will join France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands to become the fifth full-country supporter of the network, which is also available throughout a number of cities in the U.S., Germany, UK, Italy, Poland, Ireland, Chile and Colombia. These include San Francisco, Mumbai, Santiago, Medellin, Milan, Warsaw, Dublin and 10 British metropolises.

Unlike systems that are still in the development stage, SIGFOX’s Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) technology for connecting devices is already providing scalable, long-range, two-way communication and very high capacity. IoT Denmark will bring partial Danish support for the network this summer with complete coverage expected by May 2016.

Through its SIGFOX Ready program, the startup ensures that compatible devices have optimal radio performance and are promoted in the global SIGFOX Ready solution catalog. Moreover, the company has partnered with Atmel, among a number of other chipmakers to give IoT users a wide selection of transceivers, systems-on-chips (SoCs) and modules for connecting their devices with its network. No other system offers this truly open approach. In fact, Atmel’s ATA8520 transmitter IC became the first certified system-on-chip (SoC) solution after achieving the SIGFOX Ready stamp of approval back in November 2014.

Earlier this year, the French startup had raised $115 million from various industrial, telecommunications and satellite companies and has lined up a long list of partners who will employ its network for a spectrum of solutions, from deterring auto thefts and  managing parking spaces to tracking medical patients and monitoring water consumption.

As a SIGFOX network operator, IoT Denmark will manage deployment of the network, work with Danish entrepreneurs and engineers to grow the IoT ecosystem and spur new innovation, and provide cost-effective connectivity subscriptions to customers.

“Demand for SIGFOX’s low-cost, energy-efficient connectivity and its unmatched data capacity and reliability is very strong in Denmark, and we are in discussions with several future partners who are eager to begin using the network,” explained Daniel Bachman, CEO and founding partner of IoT Denmark. “We compared a variety of IoT network solutions, and determined that SIGFOX is the only one that is truly open to device manufacturers, and that can reliably handle the very large number of devices that will be connected across Denmark.”

SIGFOX is bringing the IoT to fire hydrants

---

TALIS has tapped SIGFOX’s Internet of Things network for real-time fire hydrant monitoring. 

---

Envision this: Your house catches on fire and you dial 911. The fire trucks arrive, the firefighters hop down and immediately throw the hose over their shoulders and rush around the corner to the nearest hydrant. Uh oh, the hydrant isn’t working. The hydrants of today can break, leak and freeze, something which can prove to be costly in a live-or-death situation. Luckily, the Internet of Things is here to help because with the advent of smart cities, comes the rise of much smarter water hydrants.

Most recently, water flow equipment provider Talis announced that they will be tapping into SIGFOX’s rapidly growing IoT network to bring their fire hydrant monitoring technology, called COPERNIC, to connected cities. The solution will enable utility companies and other city officials to track and analyze the status of smart fire hydrants to ensure they are indeed functioning properly and to prevent other issues such as water theft.

The two companies note that COPERNIC allows for real-time monitoring of fire hydrants by time-stamping all data related to hydrant functioning. An electronic module installed on the hydrant sends SMS or email alerts via the SIGFOX network when the hydrant is being opened, closed, tampered with, or malfunctioning. What’s more, all of that data will be made instantly available on a web-based portal, while a mobile app can also access, receive and read alerts.

As previously reported on Bits & Pieces and demonstrated throughout many of our trade show booths, SIGFOX’s cellular, ultra-narrowband (UNB) network has been exclusively designed for small messages that will meet the needs of the vast majority of objects connected to the IoT. The use of UNB is key to providing a scalable, high-capacity network, with very low energy consumption, while maintaining a simple and easy to rollout star-based cell infrastructure. The company’s Atmel based connectivity solution uses license-free frequency bands (runs in the unlicensed 902 MHz band in the U.S. and the 868 MHz band in Europe).

The French IoT startup’s UNB network has been specifically designed for small communications within IoT applications in order to greatly improve the battery life of connected objects. COPERNIC, incidentally, runs on lithium batteries that have an estimated lifetime of 10 years.

“The SIGFOX network, with its ‘plug-and-play’ connectivity, low cost and low power consumption will enable the COPERNIC solution to efficiently deliver a wide range of essential data to water-management officials in real-time,” explained Stuart Lodge, SIGFOX EVP of Global Sales.

This is just one of many bits of news to come out of our friends at SIGFOX in recent weeks. Last month, network operator Narrownet brought SIGFOX to Portugal to enhance the country’s IoT ecosystem for device manufacturers and service providers. Want to learn more? Head here.