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Smart city focus in China continues with new PCCW deal

The project stipulates a smart city initiative in China’s Pilot Free Trade Zone Hengqin

PCCW Global, the international operating division of Hong Kong telecoms services provider HKT, and Chinese company Zhuhai Da Hengqin Technology Development Company (DHQ Tech) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deploy a smart city program in Hengqin, one of China’s Pilot Free Trade Zones.

Under the terms of the MoU, PCCW Global and DHQ Tech plan to develop Hengqin into a global business and communications hub, and to position Hengqin as one of the world’s leading internet business environments to attract foreign investment and to support enterprise customers, new start-ups and hi-tech research and development centers, the partners said.

PCCW Global will assist in the design of smart city infrastructure, including operations, ICT consultancy, and regional mobile payment services. PCCW Global will also serve to support all smart government, smart tourist, big data, smart education, smart health, and safe city initiatives.

“PCCW Global’s technological know-how and vast international infrastructure will be key to further developing Hengqin as a globally leading Smart City. As a global telecommunications company, we are also excited by the opportunities Hengqin will bring to the region, and thus we are studying the feasibility of setting up a new local office in the Hengqin Pilot Free Trade Zone,” Marc Halbfinger, CEO of PCCW Global, said.

Sigfox inks connectivity agreement with OleumTech

In related news, French provider of connectivity for the internet of things (IoT), Sigfox, announced a partnership with OleumTech Corporation, a provider of M2M communications and industrial automation solutions.

OleumTech manufactures and distributes industrial wireless automation systems across sectors including water and energy. Through this partnership, customers will benefit from the Sigfox managed connectivity layer so that asset monitoring is streamlined and the essential data is delivered in nearly real-time, the French company said.

“We are rapidly growing our IoT portfolio and deploying new platforms to help our industrial customers capitalize on the connected landscape and drive results for their business,” said Brent McAdams, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives at OleumTech. “Sigfox’s global footprint and cost-effective architecture is setting the standard for low power connectivity making it an ideal platform for our self-contained battery powered technology, enabling all the benefits of IoT.”

The companies said that OleumTech wireless instruments with embedded Sigfox connectivity will be available by the end of the second quarter.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro covers Global Carriers and Global Enterprise IoT. Prior to RCR, Juan Pedro worked for Business News Americas, covering telecoms and IT news in the Latin American markets. He also worked for Telecompaper as their Regional Editor for Latin America and Asia/Pacific. Juan Pedro has also contributed to Latin Trade magazine as the publication's correspondent in Argentina and with political risk consultancy firm Exclusive Analysis, writing reports and providing political and economic information from certain Latin American markets. He has a degree in International Relations and a master in Journalism and is married with two kids.