JSE-listed technology group Altron said on Wednesday it had signed an agreement with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies to develop their internet of things (IoT) offerings.
Altron, which has sold its manufacturing assets so that it can focus purely on information and communications technology (ICT), sees IoT as a key growth area going forward, according to CEO Mteto Nyati.
IoT refers to networks of physical devices that use sensors to connect and transfer data over the internet. ICT groups and network operators such as Vodacom and MTN predict strong growth in the IoT market.
Nyati said recently he wanted Altron’s Netstar unit to move beyond vehicle recovery and fleet management into other IoT segments. In August, Netstar signed an IoT agreement with Dark Fibre Africa’s SqwidNet.
Altron said in a statement on Wednesday the partnership with Huawei would see the two companies combine their expertise “to deliver tangible and real IoT solutions for businesses in SA and the rest of Africa”.
Altron’s technicians and engineers would be trained at Huawei’s open-lab facility in Johannesburg. The combined teams would “jointly design solutions together”, Altron said.
“We need to develop more IoT solutions that are relevant to the African market,” Nyati said.
“We need smart electricity and water meters in our homes that automatically transmit consumption data to municipalities, enabling them to bill customers without a physical inspection … Beverage companies can benefit from using fridges that provide data about location, repair and service requirements,” Nyati said.
IoT could also be used to monitor waste levels in bins to ensure better waste management and “streamlined” pick-up schedules, he said.
Huawei’s chief executive for SA, Fan Wen, said: “Our more than 80,000 research and development engineers will work with Altron technical experts in designing market-leading smart solutions that harness IoT and are not vulnerable to cyberfraud… Together we will make IoT deliver business value to our joint customers.”