Sigfox said it will focus on Russia, China and India to boost growth next year
French internet of things connectivity provider Sigfox is looking to expand its operations in the U.S. market, with special focus on a number of key verticals, Franck Siegel, Sigfox’s chief coordination and delivery officer, told Enteprise IoT Insights.
“The U.S. market is a key market for Sigfox, therefore, we are planning to expand heavily in this market. We are putting in place an ace team to support this expansion with our Sigfox Operator in the U.S.,” the executive said.
Siegel added that Sigfox is mainly focusing on a number of verticals in the U.S. market including supply chain, transport and logistics, industry and utilities.
In August 2017, Sigfox opened its third U.S. office in Dallas, Texas. Sigfox initially launched operations in the U.S. in 2015, with the opening of its headquarters in Boston, along with a satellite office in San Francisco.
In Texas, Sigfox has ongoing projects to both track and monitor assets in verticals including oil and gas, healthcare and smart cities. In addition, the company aims to address supply chain and logistics customers who are active in the region and looking to further develop IoT-enabled capabilities.
The Sigfox network covers more than 25% of the U.S population. The network is deployed in major metros such as San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Diego, Washington D.C. and New Orleans.
Globally, Sigfox’s network currently covers 50 countries and 949 million people. Siegel said that the company aims to reach 60 countries and more than 1 billion people by the end of 2018.
“For 2019, we are planning to cover 70 countries with particular focus in China, Russia and India. We are working on our revenue growth and profitability. In 2017 we announced a revenue of $58 million,”Siegel added.
Commenting on particular areas of investment for the company, the executive said that Sigfox is currently investing in multiple areas such as base stations, smaller and cheaper modules, tracking and geo-localization, data processing and cloud.
“IoT module prices will be decreasing thanks to innovative solutions and volume. We started with modules at $12 in 2014, moved to modules at $2 in 2016 to now reach modules at around $0.20. And we keep innovating and working with partners to continue driving the cost of modules down,” Siegel said.
