Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN) is a leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider in Hong Kong offering a comprehensive range of premier ICT services to enterprise and residential markets.
As a fast growing HK telecom provider, HKBN wanted to offer cutting-edge services to customers, and gain competitive advantage, by adding scalable, affordable IoT solutions to its portfolio.
Most successful IoT use cases rely on wireless sensors to send small data messages, however HKBN did not have access to a wireless IoT network. Previous approaches by HKBN to delivering IoT solutions built on traditional cellular networks, had presented significant challenges including expensive costs, excessive energy consumption and complex deployment and maintenance.
HKBN selected Thinxtra to build its IoT offering because Thinxtra is the exclusive Australian, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau operator of the global Sigfox network. As the innovator of the global 0G network standard, Sigfox is the world’s leading connectivity provider for IoT.
Billy Leung, co-owner and CEO of HKBN Enterprise Solutions says, “Our work with Thinxtra empowers our customers with game-changing technology and IoT applications to significantly enhance operational efficiency and generate new business opportunities.”
Thinxtra’s subscription model allowed HKBN to efficiently manage capex to build its new wireless IoT network and roll out new services quickly and effectively using existing resources.
The partnership with Thinxtra allowed HKBN to remove traditional barriers to IoT effectiveness and become the first Hong Kong telecom carrier to launch IoT platform solutions based on the Sigfox technology standard. Within months of going live, the new network and IoT capabilities catapulted HKBN to become a market leader providing local telecoms.
Post deployment, Thinxtra enabled HKBN to offer four key benefits to customers:
- Wide coverage. HKBN has provided connectivity support to expand the Thinxtra-operated Sigfox 0G network to deliver 97 per cent coverage of Hong Kong, making Hong Kong’s IoT connectivity one of the highest in the world.
- All-in-one solution. HKBN offers a one stop IoT solution to customers that covers everything from sensors and connectivity to a centralised management portal and remote application.
- Cost effectiveness. Customers can realise Improved operational efficiency with low power consumption, low costs and a minimal data footprint.
- Easy to use. A device-to-cloud approach that is easy to deploy, maintain and scale to meet different enterprise needs.
HKBN’s IoT solutions portfolio has empowered the company to pursue multiple new market opportunities across private and public sectors. These include energy savings solutions, real-time locational monitoring, smart city and smart school solutions. HKBN also offer customers a Solutions and Facility Management bundle and are preparing to explore residential B2C solutions over the coming months.
“The key to successful IoT mass deployment is the power to provide proven end-to-end business solutions that deliver long-term value. This is exactly what this strategic partnership between Thinxtra and HKBN Enterprise Solutions delivers, reaching from connectivity to devices and supporting services,” says Joe Sun, general manager, Thinxtra, Hong Kong and Macau.
“Globally, the Sigfox 0G technology is becoming the standard for mass IoT solutions,”
Loic Barancourt, CEO, Thinxtra – Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau.
About Thinxtra
Thinxtra is empowering the Internet of Things in Asia Pacific by operating the world-leading Sigfox LPWA network as well as enabling a full eco-system of IoT solutions and services partners to connect the non-connected, to increase productivity, to accelerate decision making, to improve quality of service and quality of life, and to find more economical solutions to common problems.
Sigfox is the world’s leading provider of connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT). The company has built a global network to connect billions of devices to the Internet while consuming as little energy as possible, as simply as possible. Sigfox’s unique approach to device-to-cloud communications addresses the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability.
Thinxtra is backed by the CEFC, an Australian Government fund with a mission to accelerate local transformation towards more efficiencies.
Visit HKBN to explore affordable, efficient one-stop solutions for monitoring assets over the Internet using IoT solutions.
