The Internet of Things will bring about great changes in people’s daily lives, social governance methods, and enterprise production and management methods. With the advantages of network resources, operators are naturally at the convergence point of massive connections and massive data in the field of Internet of Things. These will Generate very important value in the future.
For operators, how to seize opportunities and achieve rapid development in this new era of Internet of Everything will be an important issue. At the 2017 China Mobile Global Partner Conference, China Mobile released the “139” cooperation plan (i.e. 1 new NB-IoT network, 3 industry alliances, 9 capability applications), aiming to promote network evolution and strengthen industry Alliance cooperation and opening up capabilities in key application areas are important measures for the development of China’s mobile service industry. After entering 2018, China Mobile plans to provide 2 billion yuan in special subsidies, of which 1 billion yuan will subsidize NB-IoT modules, with a maximum subsidy ratio of 80%; another 1 billion yuan will subsidize 4G modules, with a maximum subsidy ratio of 50%, to promote IoT The development of the Internet industry and its deep integration with industry, agriculture, transportation, energy and other industries.
“Big Connection” Strategy Implemented
China Mobile attaches great importance to “big connection”. As early as 2016, it formulated a big connection strategy and planned to implement it by expanding the scale of connections, optimizing connection services, and strengthening connection applications.
The so-called enlarging the connection scale means expanding from person-to-person communication to communication between people and machines, and machines and machines. In China, the number of communications between people is 1 billion, and the cumulative number of communications between people and machines, and machines and machines, is tens of billions.
The so-called optimization of connection services means promoting the expansion of connection services from pipeline access connections to platform-level connections and end-to-end infrastructure services, and realizing the vertical extension of connection services. China Mobile will provide end-to-end connection services including chip modules, intelligent hardware, intelligent management platforms, and cloud to meet connection needs such as massive connection management, complex billing management, safety and reliability, and real-time operation and maintenance.
The so-called strengthening of connected applications means promoting the expansion of connected applications from information consumption to digital life and production services in vertical industries. In addition to continuing to enrich various consumer Internet applications, China Mobile will also delve into vertical industries such as transportation and logistics, energy and power, and industrial manufacturing to promote the digitization of production through informatization.
Among the “three things”, “enlarging the connection scale” is what operators are best at. After the release of the big connection strategy, China Mobile’s connection scale grew rapidly, and its new business, mainly the Internet of Things, achieved double-digit growth in 2017. China Mobile’s goal is to build the world’s largest narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT).
Comprehensive coverage of cloud-pipe-end
Due to its early and fast actions, China Mobile has now formed an IoT capability that comprehensively covers cloud-pipe-end. China Mobile is the first domestic operator to explore the Internet of Things business. It established an Internet of Things base in Chongqing in 2010 and established China Mobile Internet of Things Co., Ltd. in 2012 to professionally operate dedicated Internet of Things networks and promote the application of the Internet of Things in various industries. Scale application.
In terms of “management”, in the first half of this year, the number of smart IoT connections increased by 155 million, reaching 384 million, and IoT revenue increased by 47.6% year-on-year. Not only that, China Mobile has also built a new high-quality NB-IoT network infrastructure. It is reported that China Mobile has launched commercial NB-IoT services in 11 provinces (cities and districts). The first phase of the NB-IoT network construction covers 346 cities. Within the year, it will achieve continuous coverage in areas above towns and villages across the country.
In terms of “cloud”, China Mobile has created two major platforms, OneNET and CCMP. Among them, OneNET is a key link to ensure the coordinated development of China Mobile’s IoT system. It mainly undertakes the connection service content of IoT terminals and applications in China Mobile’s “Big Connection” strategy. At present, the number of China Mobile OneNET connections has reached 38 million, the number of platform developer users exceeds 50,000, and the number of enterprise users exceeds 5,000. According to China Mobile’s plan, the platform will add 40 million new connections in 2018, bringing the total number to more than 70 million. CCMP is a connection management platform, mainly used to provide intelligent connection management to enterprises. CCMP has five core capabilities: NB-IoT capabilities, business operation capabilities, application integration capabilities, security protection capabilities, and ESIM international business expansion capabilities. As of the end of November 2017, the number of connections on China Mobile’s CCMP exceeded 200 million, there were more than 48,000 enterprise customers, and the monthly API usage exceeded 2.5 billion times. Through the layout of the two major platforms, China Mobile has got rid of its dependence on connections in the field of Internet of Things and completed coverage of more value areas.
On the “end” side, China Mobile has launched a large number of communication module products. These products are mainly independently researched and developed, supplemented by joint research and development, and mainly include three series – automotive grade, industrial grade and consumer grade. China Mobile is currently developing 9 independent brand communication modules, including 3 2G products, 1 4G product, and 5 NB-IoT modules.
In addition, China Mobile also focuses on the design of communication chips. According to reports, since November 2016, China Mobile has successively launched a variety of chips, all of which support remote upgrades. In April this year, China Mobile released a latest IoT chip, which is small in size and can meet the needs of miniaturization of IoT devices.
It’s spring when the garden is in full bloom
As the saying goes, a flower blooming alone is not a spring. The success of the Internet of Things cannot only rely on the efforts of operators themselves, but can only be achieved through the cooperation of all links in the industry chain. In order to promote industrial cooperation, China Mobile launched the China Mobile Internet of Things Alliance in Shanghai in June 2017, aiming to leverage the strengths of each company and pool their efforts to jointly meet the needs of industry customers. China Mobile plans to build on its advantages as an operator, increase innovation and cooperation exploration, actively promote the integration of the Internet of Things and the industry, and prosper industrial applications.
At the China Mobile Global Partner Conference in November 2017, China Mobile launched the “139” plan, in which the “3” refers to the three major alliances, among which the China Mobile Internet of Things Alliance is among them. At present, the China Mobile Internet of Things Alliance has brought together more than 280 partners, covering sensors, chip modules, industry terminals, vertical platforms, application platforms, applications, networks, system integration and other aspects, in smart meter reading, smart homes, smart buildings, Many practices have been carried out in eight vertical fields, including municipal IoT, smart wearables, transportation and logistics, wide-area IoT, and industrial IoT.
Taking smart cities as an example, with the help of China Mobile’s IoT solutions, city management departments can install IP68 waterproof NB-IoT communication chips on city manhole covers and fire hydrants. After that, the status of each manhole cover can be clearly seen through the background. situation, including various data such as anti-theft monitoring, water alarm, water pressure detection, etc. By installing IoT chips on street lamps, managers can see the city’s lighting conditions through GIS maps and remote monitoring, achieving intelligent control of lighting strategies and saving 23% energy compared to traditional management methods.
In addition, as IoT terminals and chips gradually mature, the concept of smart cities continues to expand, and China Mobile’s community-free prevention and control solution is a typical representative. This solution installs a face recognition system at the community gate and building unit door. It can complete the face recognition and respond within 0.6 seconds, such as opening the door for the owner and connecting the video intercom system for the visitor. Outside the community, the program provides wearable devices such as smart watches for the elderly and children, with functions such as real-time positioning, setting electronic fences, one-click rescue, and anti-lost functions to meet the safety needs of families in today’s big cities.