Orange launches new Live Booster programme so that smart device makers can buy electronics with connectivity and data packages already included.
The new programme from Orange offers a number of pre-packaged modules with embedded SIMs, distributed through a single global distributor.
The integrated SIM card, meanwhile, comes with a pre-paid data bundle, in order to provide an ‘off-the-shelf’ product for IoT device vendors, which offers secure and reliable connectivity across wide geographical areas.
A range of modules will be launched across 2017 and 2018 that will address various cellular technologies, beginning with 2G and shortly followed by LTE-M.
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Distribution partnership
Orange has partnered with distribution company EBV Elektronik to market the modules. The first Live Booster module on offer is called Heracles and provides a way to access cellular connectivity across 33 countries in Europe.
The mobile operator said that by pre-integrating connectivity at the electronic design stage, and making it available through a single distributor, “the process is greatly simplified for object makers.”
The modules will also come with no recurrent or additional fees. Orange is combining pre-defined 2G data bundles to address a large number of IoT applications. Customers will be able to choose from four sizes of ‘off the shelf’ pre-paid data plans, starting at 10MB to cover objects for their lifetime.
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Wide range of use cases
These modules will be available from September to any manufacturer of connected objects from start-ups to major companies. The modules measure 15.8 x 17.8 x 2.4mm and can be used in a range of IoT use-cases from automotive, tracking, metering, industrial and wearables, both indoor and outdoor.
Yves Maitre, executive vice president of connected objects and partnerships at Orange said that, as a long-standing champion of cellular connectivity in the IoT market, the company is driven to breakdown barriers. “By embedding cellular connectivity from the outset and making the pricing simple and attractive, we hope to deliver a much-needed boost to the market.”
Dr. Eckart Voskamp, director of product innovations at EBV Elektronik, added that with the certified and pre-paid Heracles module, “manufacturers can focus on their applications and don’t have to deal with any connectivity set-up.”