IoT Deals and Partnerships: AT&T, Comcast, Semtech and More

From AT&T and Comcast’s appointment as founding partners of the 5G Open Innovation Lab, to Energous’ real-time asset tracking solution with Veea and Semtech’s collaboration with Oxit to make a single device for AWS IoT Core connectivity, here are some of the latest deals and partnerships from the world of IoT.

AT&T, Comcast Join 5G Open Innovation Lab

AT&T and Comcast have been selected to join the 5G Open Innovation Lab, coming on board as founding partners of its innovation ecosystem.

The companies join 18 other founding and corporate partners, bringing expertise in 5G and edge technologies to advance connectivity across a range of industries. The ecosystem currently has 118 startups as part of its network. 

“The combination of 5G and edge is unlocking a massive wave of collaborative innovation in Cloud, Edge and AI across every industry from agriculture and power generation to manufacturing, logistics and medicine,” said Jim Brisimitzis, 5G Open Innovation Lab founder. “We are thrilled to welcome AT&T and Comcast as founding partners to help drive our vision to bring industry experts together and, collectively, drive innovation into overlapping ecosystems.” 

“Collaboration is the key to innovation,” said Jay Cary, AT&T’s vice president of strategic alliances. “As we continue forging ahead to realize 5G’s full potential, it is important to work with the nimble startup and innovation community so we can move faster and solve real-world technology challenges more holistically and effectively for our customers.”

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The innovation lab just announced its eighth batch of startups, adding 17 new startups to its network. The companies selected represent “cutting-edge enterprise solutions” in industries ranging from logistics to robotics, cybersecurity and IoT enablement. 

Energous, Veea Partner on Real-Time Asset Tracking in Industrial, Logistics and Retail 

Energous and smart edge connectivity provider Veea, have partnered to combine wireless power and edge computing for real-time asset tracking in IoT sectors. 

The companies will integrate Energous' PowerBridge technology, Wiliot's IoT Pixel tags and Veea's Edge Platform to create a holistic wireless power ecosystem.

The final product will enable reduced installation costs, lower latency and improved bandwidth efficiency while enhancing security, privacy, and reliability.

“Driven by technological advancements in connectivity, data analytics, and new fields such as wireless power and AI/ML, the IoT industry is experiencing a significant paradigm shift,” said Cesar Johnston, Energous’ CEO. “As data processing becomes more relevant, more and more customers are facing cost challenges due to the high quantity of data being generated, processed and stored. Our partnership with Veea is critical as we believe edge computing is key to addressing these growing challenges.”

“Veea is thrilled to partner with Energous to improve inventory controls and asset tracking use cases by utilizing the connectivity capabilities of Veea’s Edge Platform paired with Energous PowerBridges and Wiliot IoT Pixel tags,” said Mark Tubinis, Veea’s CCO. 

Semtech, Oxit Team to Create Single Device for AWS IoT Core Connectivity

Semtech and Oxit, an IoT service provider, are collaborating to create a single device to connect to both AWS IoT Core for Amazon Sidewalk and AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN networks.

The collaboration seeks to provide customers with a single IoT cloud endpoint, AWS IoT Core, on one device, with the ability to choose the best network based on coverage and enhanced connectivity. 

“Earlier this year, Semtech announced that the first third-party Amazon Sidewalk products, based on Semtech’s LoRa technology, are now available,” said Tom Mueller, Semtech’s executive vice president. “Semtech’s LoRa technology is recognized as the de facto long-range, low-power wireless technology for smart IoT solutions in many industries, and it is the foundational technology powering the OxTech Multi-Connectivity Module.”

According to Mueller, the new offering enables a range of capabilities, including asset tracking, as well as smart homes and smart city technology connectivity. 

“Original Equipment Manufacturers wanting to build a single hardware device for both Amazon Sidewalk and AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN, are now able to, thanks to the OxTech Multi-Connectivity Module,” said Josh Cox, Oxit’s CEO. “Customers can now not only use the same module for connecting devices to both networks with an integrated network stack, but they can also write their own applications directly on the module, simplifying deployment and speeding time to market.” 

LogRhythm, Novacoast Partner on Security Services

LogRhythm, a data security company, has partnered with cybersecurity firm Novacoast to develop novel security services for the cloud-native, software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, Axon. 

The companies said the partnership marks a “significant milestone” as Novacoast becomes the first LogRhythm Axon service provider to provide level one and level two analyst services and custom content.

Axon's cloud-native architecture enables the agility and scalability required to handle massive amounts of data, providing real-time insights and alerts for quicker response times. 

By transitioning its security operations to the new Axon platform, LogRhythm said it is aiming to protect a wide spectrum of customers, including those utilizing Azure, Google Cloud and AWS services.  

"LogRhythm's migration to the Axon platform is a testament to our confidence in the new platform to protect both us and our customers in a continually evolving threat landscape,” said Andrew Hollister, LogRhythm’s chief information security officer. "Our partnership with Novacoast in delivering services on the new platform furthers our mission of empowering security teams. 

MTN Awards Eseye Multi-Year IoT Connectivity Contract 

MTN South Africa, the subsidiary of MTN Group, has signed a multi-year agreement with global IoT connectivity solutions provider Eseye, which will see it “standardize on a global eSIM and IoT platform solution.” 

Under the deal Eseye will provide MTN with a Connectivity Management Platform, expanding its customer offering to include management of eSIMs and Global SIMs. 

Eseye’s Integra IoT Platform for mobile network operators was selected to power the next-generation MTN IoT connectivity solution, which will see millions of IoT devices onboarded and connected.

“Our mission is to be Africa's leading digital platform, unlocking economic growth through financial and digital solutions for consumers and businesses of all sizes,” said Lawrence Juku, MTN Business’ head of IoT solutions. “We aim to create a marketplace that supports digital economies through affordable, inclusive, simple and comprehensive services. Our strategic partnership with Eseye will enable us to sell diverse IoT services such as connectivity, IoT bundles, and value-added services to help our customers meet their IoT global needs.” 

Under the agreement, Eseye’s Integra solution will be deployed in South Africa to expand the solution to 18 operating companies across Africa.  

Laird Connectivity, Wirepas Collaborate on IoT Implementations for Bluetooth Low Energy Devices

Laird Connectivity, a wireless technology provider, and mesh connectivity provider Wirepas are collaborating to deliver combined hardware and software solutions connecting Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) modules for massive IoT implementations.

The partners said Bluetooth LE is the “ideal physical layer” for a wide range of low-power or low-latency mesh applications serving sectors ranging from industrial to health care. 

“Combined with Wirepas' unique Mesh 2.4GHz software implementation,” the partners said, “customers have the perfect toolkit for deploying affordable, massive and high-density, short-range IoT applications with unprecedented performance.”

"Together, Wirepas and Laird Connectivity solve a pressing problem for industrial-grade IoT: how to wirelessly connect billions of devices with diverse and evolving network requirements," said Teppo Hemiä, Wirepas’ CEO. "The combination of a high-performance mesh network and 2.4GHz technology provides a powerful approach to meeting our partners' and customers' connectivity needs."

"The combination of Wirepas and Laird Connectivity frees application developers from the complexities of long development paths to connect to 2.4 GHz mesh networks," said Jonathan Kaye, Laird Connectivity’s vice president of marketing and product management. "Our mutual customers can now focus on creating unique value-added mesh networking applications areas such as predictive maintenance, industrial automation, warehousing and asset tracking." 

UScellular Selects Casa Systems for 5G Outdoor Fixed Wireless Access Devices 

Casa Systems has been selected by UScellular to provide a high-speed broadband internet solution for homes and businesses. 

Casa Systems’ AurusLINK was selected for its compact, self-install outdoor design that quickly and reliably connects to the 5G network for “a superior FWA broadband internet experience.”

“With its nationwide 5G footprint and diverse spectrum assets, UScellular is an innovative wireless operator that selected the AurusLINK as a complete, self-install solution to fuel the expansion of its Home Internet service to more customers,” said Steve Collins, Casa Systems’ senior vice president of access devices. “UScellular’s customers will enjoy superior coverage and seamless connectivity as our devices and smartphone app ensure the optimal signal and performance to reduce product returns and churn issues associated with more traditional in-home 5G gateways.”

“Adding a self-installed external device to our in-home connectivity solutions gives our customers more flexibility to choose the option that provides the best performance for them,” said Eric Jagher, UScellular’s senior vice president. “We are committed to providing our customers with fast, reliable connectivity, and Casa Systems offers proven technology that delivers reliable, high-performance 5G services that will make a real difference in our customers’ lives.”