Building on its continued rapid growth in Europe and its network rollout in 10 major U.S. metropolitan areas, SIGFOX has announced its expansion in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).The leading provider of dedicated cellular connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT) is opening an office in Dubai to manage its network rollout in the region.
“SIGFOX has always planned to build a dedicated Internet of Things network that covers the world and provides ubiquitous and seamless connectivity to billions of objects that will use the IoT,” said Xavier Drilhon, SIGFOX Deputy Chief Executive Officer. “The Middle East and Africa region is a logical next step in that strategy, and our business-development work in those countries has built a strong foundation for our continued rapid global expansion.”
Based in Dubai, the company’s MEA operations are headed by mobile-telecom industry veteran Thierry Siminger, President of SIGFOX Middle East & Africa. He has more than 20 years of experience in MEA mobile, machine-to-machine (M2M) and information technologies (IT) markets. He joins SIGFOX from Oberthur Technologies, a world leader in digital security solutions for the mobility space. Most recently, he was President of Oberthur’s Russia, Middle East and Africa (RMEA) unit, and Managing Director of telecom for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Earlier in his career, he was Managing Director for Gemplus (now GEMALTO) for the MEA region.
“There is very strong interest in implementing the benefits of the Internet of Things for applications such as security, asset tracking, smart cities and utility-service payments, and connecting MEA countries to a global network,” Siminger said. “SIGFOX is the only company in the world that can do that with low-cost, low-energy-use connectivity.”
Currently operating or being deployed in the U.S. and 10 European countries and registering over 5 million devices, the SIGFOX network is the only IoT-dedicated connectivity system commercially available that guarantees a high level of service and reliability. Its easily integrated solution enables years-to-decades of battery life for connected devices in all business and industry sectors.
Source: http://africabusinesscommunities.com/news/sigfox-rolls-iot-network-in-middleeast-africa.html