MWC, Barcelona: Cellular IoT provider 1NCE has introduced a high-power broadband IoT data service to its portfolio for higher bandwidth IoT applications. It is charging a flat fee of $5 per gigabyte of data, over and above its 10-for-10 flat-rate airtime fee ($/€10 for 10 years). The firm has also announced native IoT network coverage in Brazil, one of several major markets to impose restrictions on permanent roaming, via the acquisition of local operator 1IoT.
The new “high-data” service is geared for IoT applications such as surveillance video and industrial monitoring, it said. It is being offered via global LTE roaming partners – “anywhere in the world with speeds up to 25 Mbps”. The service can be booked by customers on the 1NCE software platform. “No volume commitments, no overage penalties, no hidden fees,” it stated. The firm claims around 18,000 customers globally, and 100 percent growth in new connections over the last 12 months..
It posted a bumper fourth quarter last year, with 1.3 million new connections in December alone. It added seven million in 2023, in total. Ivo Rook, chief operating officer at 1NCE, commented: “Last year, our customers grew a staggering 42 percent, outperforming their competitors by rolling out more products across multiple countries with 1NCE. Opening our platform for high data was the next logical step to support their expansion.”
Access to the Brazilian market has been secured via the purchase of local operator São Paulo based 1IoT for an undisclosed fee, and via roaming deals with the three major mobile operator in the country, and “deep integration” with Claro, particularly. The new provision means 1NCE can now offer IoT coverage across the Americas – “from Canada in the north to Argentina in the south”, as part of its remit in 168 countries.
Regional restrictions on permanent IoT roaming, as in Brazil, mean IoT products must be shipped with local SIMs, to be provisioned on local networks. Nigeria and Turkey have also banned permanent roaming. China, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the UAE also impose restrictions, variously. 1NCE said it is now a “fully-authorised IoT network operator”, headquartered in São Paulo, offering local data management, billing, and logistics.
Rook commented: “The wait for nationwide IoT in Brazil is over. It was no surprise our customers wanted to get started from the first minute we opened in São Paulo. We are scaling up rapidly and already serve customers with IoT projects of any size across all of Brazil.”
