BIG GROWTH FOR IOT IN SOUTH AFRICA
Vodacom South Africa has seen huge growth in the IOT market in the country, with its financial results for the quarter ended December 2016 revealing that IOT connections grew by 29.3% to 2.8 million.
The network operator is confident this growth will continue and recently partnered with global technology company PTC to implement a local version of the Thingworx IOT platform. The move will allow for the “simple, fast, and secure” development of IOT applications, said Deon Liebenberg Vodacom’s Managing Executive for the Internet-of-things.
“The Thingworx IOT platform allows Vodacom to create a framework for direct market engagement to develop and deliver IOT services to key verticals. A well-established partner model will enable IOT developers across South Africa to have access to Thingworx to support their development and entrepreneurial ambitions to connect things to the Internet and the world,” said Liebenberg.
Vodacom’s partnership with PTC comes after the network announced in late 2016 that it had started building a narrowband IOT network, which will launch across major metropolitan areas during 2017. The NB-IOT network consists of various components of Vodacom’s current network and will run on existing licensed spectrum.
“Vodacom continues to build out its NB-IOT value proposition. The NB-IOT network will transform IOT in South Africa by enabling new use cases for IOT connections through low-power wide-area (LPWA) network technology. LPWA networks are able to communicate to devices where radio penetration has previously not been possible, and with a low power overhead. A key characteristic of LPWA devices is power efficiency. This allows devices to be used in-field with batteries which could last up to many years,” said Liebenberg.
IOT growth sectors in SA
Liebenberg said Vodacom has identified multiple sectors which they believe have large growth potential, in terms of the implementation of IOT solutions. These sectors include utilities, health, education, manufacturing, and agriculture. “For example, we have successfully deployed smart metering as a service solution to various municipalities to improve efficiency and reduce revenue leakages,” said Liebenberg.
A crucial aspect of expanding an IOT network is security, especially in light of recent massive distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks which originated from compromised IOT devices, said Liebenberg.
“Essentially, consumer devices which were connected to the Internet (such as home routers and security cameras) did not have their default passwords changed or contained manufacturer-installed backdoors, which allowed malware to easily control them.”
“In addition to the above, security is a general concern for the IOT as large amounts of data may potentially be gathered from many sensors and systems. IOT devices may be able to gather data and transmit this back to the device manufacturer or other third parties without the owner’s consent. Storage and transit of data must be adequately secured to prevent unauthorised access. IOT security may thus be largely categorised into network-based security, device-based security, secure communications, and secure application environments,” said Liebenberg.
Vodacom uses its Security Governance Framework to incorporate processes which manage the introduction of new products or systems, and “IOT is not treated differently”.
“Through this process, a full security assessment is conducted. The process includes a detailed review of the product or solution, due diligence in the context of the vendor used and their associated security policies and maturity, security testing employed for the solution, operational deployment methodologies, infrastructure hardening, vulnerability scanning, change control processes, pre and post production deployment processes, monitoring into a security operational centre, and finally security awareness,” said Liebenberg. ■