The telco aims to implement the platform in a smart city trial in Busan
South Korea’s largest mobile telephony operator, SK Telecom, has launched an open “Internet of Things” platform dubbed ThingPlug, with the main goal of boosting the IoT ecosystem.
The operator said that the platform is based on oneM2M standards. Formed in 2012, oneM2M is a global organization creating a scalable and interoperable standard for communications of devices and services used in M2M applications and the IoT. SK Telecom has also launched a website for the ThingPlug platform.
With the new IoT platform, developers can build a service or application by downloading the software development kit from the ThingPlug website and combining it with their hardware. Developers can then use the service or application immediately after registering the service and device to the website, and allow others to use the service as well.
“The launch of ThingPlug carries a significant meaning as it allows anyone to develop an IoT service, leading to the creation of a truly enriched IoT ecosystem that brings increased value and convenience to developers across the globe,” SK Telecom’s CTO Alex Jinsung Choi said.
“To this end, we will not only work closely with the local governments, solution developers and technology institutes in Korea, but also join hands with IoT players around the world,” the executive added.
The ThingPlug platform offers various features which allow developers to check, in real time, the service status and data via many different types of devices, including PCs, smartphones and tablets.
SK Telecom reps also said that the company expects to apply the new platform to the smart city test-bed, which will be created in the city of Busan at the end of this year. The operator and the government of Busan are planning to upgrade a number of public services, including parking management, building energy management and safety services to smart IoT services.
The South Korean operator launched the first M2M platform in the nation in 2008, introducing B2G services such as remote metering.
SK Telecom reached 28.37 million subscribers in the mobile telephony segment by the end of the first quarter of 2015, climbing 2% compared to the same time a year ago, according to the operator’s latest quarterly report. LTE subscribers totaled 17.44 million at the end of March, up 18.1% year-on-year.
