HILLWOOD AND ERICSSON ROUTES PARTNER TO ADVANCE AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY
Autonomous and connected vehicle companies operating in the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone will benefit from knowing they will have secure and constant wireless 4G and 5G connectivity for their planning and operations through Ericsson Routes.
Ericsson Routes is like a Waze for wireless cellular connectivity, providing connectivity predictions so that users can be sure they will have a consistent and reliable connection throughout the whole journey and when planning routes for autonomous vehicles. Ericsson Routes is an incubation unit within Ericsson to broaden services to the automotive industry.
Hillwood, one of the leading industrial and commercial real estate developers in the U.S., and Ericsson, a global leader in telecommunications and technology partner to automakers, have a shared vision of a future where connected mobility will make transportation safer and more sustainable.
The AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone (MIZ) is an unparalleled ecosystem that allows mobility visionaries full access to essential resources and partnerships to test, scale and commercialize the latest technologies. In the less than three years since the launch of the MIZ, it has quickly become one of the premier global destinations for pioneers advancing next-generation supply chain technologies, including Wing, Bell, TuSimple, Gatik, and many more.
"Partnering with Ericsson Routes and their technology leadership gives our customers world-class and cutting-edge services that will advance the mobility industry," says Russell Laughlin, Executive Vice President of Hillwood. "This unique technology offers mobility leaders an opportunity to be at the forefront of ensuring their products have the connectivity they need to operate now and well into the future."
"Ericsson believes that wireless cellular connectivity is essential to mobility. Companies need to know and trust that connectivity will be seamless before sending an autonomous vehicle onto the road to deliver groceries or a drone to inspect a power line. Ericsson Routes provides this insurance, and we’re excited to see it grow at the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone," says Daniel Alexus, Head of Ericsson ONE.
Earlier this year, Ericsson Routes launched in San Francisco, Calif., providing a single integration point and a consistent prediction engine for autonomous vehicles across all their wireless service providers. The service predicts secure connectivity along a path from point A to point B with its uplink blind spot detector. By collecting and measuring connectivity data insights, Ericsson Routes’ planning capabilities also help fleet managers address connectivity questions as new deployment areas are considered.
Ericsson Routes has now expanded its service to the MIZ, making it available to the current and future leading mobility companies operating there. In addition, in partnership with Hillwood, Ericsson Routes will test and expand support for drone connectivity later this year.
ERICSSON REPORT ADDRESSES TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS DISRUPTIONS WITH ZF AND ORANGE BELGIUM TO DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF CELLULAR IOT CONNECTIVITY
>> The report explores two value-generating use cases including driver assistance and truck and trailer monitoring that support reduced costs, maintenance, and CO2 emissions across fleets
>> Cellular IoT connections continue to grow exponentially and in the transport industry alone, connections are expected to grow to 292 million in 2030, paving the way for advanced features and capabilities
Today, Ericsson released a new Connected Truck Transport report in partnership with ZF, Orange Belgium, and Arthur D. Little. The report analyzes the power of IoT connectivity to mitigate the complexities brought on by disruptions in the logistics supply chain, including soaring fuel prices, driver shortages, and governmental regulations.
A competitive landscape, elevated customer expectations, and environmental pressures are just some of the challenges facing the transport and logistics industry. As older trucks are retrofitted and new trucks equipped with fleet telematics — a technology enabled by cellular IoT connectivity, giving fleet managers and drivers access to data from an array of onboard sensors – the potential for connected trucks is indisputable. Cellular IoT connections continue to grow exponentially, however, their full capabilities are just scratching the surface. In the transport industry alone, IoT connections are expected to grow from 100 million in 2020 to 292 million in 2030, with connected devices sending more data and augmenting growth beyond the number of connected devices available.
Two use cases developed with ZF’s Transics branded Fleet Management Solutions – an industry leading telematics solution and Orange Belgium are explored in the report that clearly demonstrate the power of IoT-enabled fleet telematics, particularly through truck and trailer monitoring and driver assistance. As we shift the industry into a new gear, the use cases serve as key indicators of the benefits of levering real-time data. In fact, the potential cost savings could be well over 6% for a mid-size truck company’s total cost, with one-third coming from driver assistance and two-thirds from truck and trailer monitoring.
Also highlighted in the report is the "Amazon Effect," which has pushed supply chains to develop and adopt new business models and standards that match Amazon’s logistics capabilities. This includes incorporating fleet telematics, which not only alleviates challenges but can also support turning data into actionable insights. Fleets that have been impacted by the Amazon Effect can include any type of vehicle from planes to micromobility scooters but are especially impactful for the truck transportation industry.
Kyle Okamoto, General Manager IoT, Ericsson, says: "Implementation of fleet telematics enabled by cellular IoT connectivity allows enterprises to deploy, manage and scale their IoT businesses in ways never previously possible, from acquisition through disposal. These industries will see an immediate impact as their businesses transform and economize substantially through IoT connectivity."
WHEN A SMART CITY DEPLOYMENT IS NAMED AN IOT BREAKTHROUGH
>> Voi, Arkessa and Ericsson’s partnership was named ‘Smart City Deployment of the Year’ at the IoT Breakthrough Awards.
IoT Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Internet-of-Things (IoT) market, today announced that Ericsson, together with Voi, Europe’s leading micromobility company, and Arkessa, a leading provider of global cellular IoT connectivity and Ericsson’s communication service provider partner, has been selected as winner of the "Smart City Deployment of the Year" award in the 6th annual IoT Breakthrough Awards program.
Voi provides electric scooter sharing in partnership with cities and local communities. The company is present across more than 70 cities in 11 countries. The business is centered around creating networks of shared electric vehicles that are affordable and carbon-neutral to travel around urban areas and aid in an eventual shift away from cars in the city center.
Arkessa provides global IoT connectivity and management to Voi's e-scooter fleets worldwide, enabling micromobility in urban areas. With global SIMs supplied by Arkessa, Voi is able to easily provision and activate scooters while also managing its fleet of connected scooters - regardless of their locations.
Voi’s connected e-scooters allow for flexible and affordable individual transportation over short distances producing no emissions and almost no noise. Voi is enhancing the rider experience while also enabling digital value creation for a whole ecosystem around e-scooters. Such an ecosystem can include a broad range of actors such as suppliers of scooter components, value-added service providers, and local partnerships with both private and public sectors, including city councils.
Arkessa leverages the Ericsson IoT Accelerator platform to provide managed cellular connectivity services which span the entire lifecycle of the scooter fleet and enables Voi to deploy to multiple countries globally in a seamless fashion, lowering costs.
"As cities continue to grow, technology is playing an increasingly important role in improving quality of life. To combat noise, pollution and congestion, city planners are looking to create sustainable, efficient and comfortable access to cities. The ‘15 Minute City’ concept would enable citizens to access their essential living needs by walking, biking, taking public transport or a shared micromobility service," said James Johnson, managing director at IoT Breakthrough. "We want to congratulate Ericsson, Voi and Arkessa for working together to create a micromobility service that has the potential to help cities around the world transform their mobility concepts. Together they are our choice for ‘Smart City Deployment of the Year.’"
Cellular IoT connections are expected to grow nearly - 3 times from 1.9 billion in 2021 to 5.5 billion in 2027, according to Ericsson’s estimations. To date, Voi boasts more than 6 million users and has served close to 45 million rides.
The mission of the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the globe in a range of IoT categories, including Industrial and Enterprise IoT, Smart City technology, Connected Home and Home Automation, Connected Car, and many more. This year’s program attracted more than 3,850 nominations from companies all over the world.
"We are grateful to IoT Breakthrough for this award and equally as grateful to our partners and fellow winners: Arkessa and Voi. Realizing smart cities is closer than ever and one key building element is micromobility, powered by high-speed cellular connectivity, that makes city mobility more flexible, affordable and sustainable," said Åsa Tamsons, Head of Business Area Technologies and New Businesses at Ericsson. "It has been incredible to come together with Voi and Arkessa as they make use of our IoT Accelerator platform to create the agility needed to scale this project. Global, reliable, and secure connectivity plays a pivotal role in helping new industries grow and contribute to connecting our cities."
