Michele Wong (Spark)
Spark has hit a milestone in its drive into the Internet of Things, with more than one million such "things" now connected.
Tsunami gates, livestock, electricity and water meters, taxis, pumpkins grown in school veggie gardens, fire and smoke detectors, and pharmacy refrigerators are just some of the applications now running on Spark’s IoT networks, the company said.
With connections growing over 20 per cent since just the end of June 2022, there is clearly significant momentum building.
In August, Spark reported its health sector revenue grew fasted during the year to 30 June at 46 per cent followed by IoT, which increased 22 per cent. IoT connections had climbed 75 per cent during the year to reach 832,000.
IoT enables businesses to monitor things in the natural and physical worlds around them, collecting data that can then be analysed and used to inform decision making.
This made IoT a natural enabler of initiatives that improve efficiency, reduce costs and the use of natural resources, and enable businesses to become more productive and sustainable through technology, Spark said.
Last week Spark and sustainability firm thinkstep-anz launched new research which showed digital technology could help reduce 7.2 million tonnes of emissions at 2030.
Over the same period, New Zealand needed to reduce emissions by 17 million tonnes to meet its emissions goal. Digital technology, inclusive of IoT, could therefore help deliver the equivalent of 42 per cent of those reductions.
Spark IoT lead Michele Wong said in an environment where businesses were trying to reduce costs in the face of sustained inflation, while at the same time reducing emissions, IoT was an effective problem solver.
“The exciting thing about IoT is the breadth of business problems it can help solve," Wong said.
"We have sensors in Bottle Lake Forest helping to detect fires, a data buoy taking salinity readings for Westpac Mussels Farm to reduce operational costs and emissions, and connected fridges monitoring optimal temperatures to protect COVID vaccines."
Spark built its first IoT-specific LoRaWAN network in 2018, and started co-creating with customers such as Mainfreight on tracking high-value containers.
The telco then launched a Cat-M1 network in 2019, which now reaches over 99 per cent of the New Zealand population. In July, Spark then activated a new NB-IoT network providing nearly 85 per cent population coverage.
“Each of these different networks cater to different business use cases depending on bandwidth and coverage needs," Wong said. "So whether businesses need to deliver data in real time or they are needing long-life devices our networks will be able to service the tailored business needs."
Solutions were now in place across sectors including energy, industry, property, transport, food, forestry, and agriculture, Wong said.
"We know more and more assets will become connected, and more businesses will see the benefits of IoT as it turns simple data into real insights and tangible business outcomes."
