Sigfox Community Gathering | Avnet Partners with Sigfox to Drive Innovation

The fragmented application scenarios of the Internet of Things (IoT) are giving rise to new wireless communication technologies: LPWAN (low-power wide-area network) has emerged and become a hot topic for IoT applications that require low data rates, low power consumption, long distances, and a large number of connections.

Avnet Asia Pacific hosted the Avnet Sigfox Conference 2018 at the Hong Kong Science Park on April 19th. The conference showcased Avnet's innovative enterprise solutions developed using Sigfox's patented network technology, aiming to fully support companies in launching IoT projects.

Joe Chung, Director of Solutions Development for Avnet Asia, stated, "As the preferred partner for the Internet of Things (IoT), Avnet can build an integrated ecosystem based on three major Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies—Sigfox, LoRa, and NB-IoT—enabling interconnectivity among all parties. We can customize solutions and designs, integrating the necessary products and services with system integrators, service providers, equipment manufacturers, cloud platform providers, and component suppliers, simplifying the complexity of the IoT ecosystem and thereby shortening time to market. Through this integrated approach, we fully support and drive our customers' IoT projects."

Recently, Avnet and Sigfox signed a global agreement to jointly promote Sigfox's products and services. Through this Sigfox ecosystem partnership agreement, Avnet can connect various stakeholders to provide a complete end-to-end enterprise Sigfox solution, including: components from suppliers such as ON Semiconductor, NXP, and STMicroelectronics; Sigfox-compatible modules from equipment manufacturers such as Wisol; connectivity services from network providers such as Thinxtra and UnaBiz; and Avnet's excellent design capabilities to customize IoT solutions for customers. Representatives from several of these partners also delivered speeches at the conference.

Leveraging its capabilities in the LPWAN field, Sigfox's technology has become one of the most widely used networks in IoT connectivity and machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. These network technologies are indispensable for building state-of-the-art smart city applications, especially suitable for long-distance data transmission (over 20 kilometers). This conference will showcase Avnet's ability to implement Sigfox services in its end-to-end solutions, helping customers turn their ideas into reality and bring them to market.

Frank Sauber, Ecosystem Director at Sigfox, stated, "Avnet is one of the key drivers in promoting the widespread adoption of low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies. We collaborate closely to offer a wide range of products from leading ecosystem partners, providing a broad and powerful selection ideal for various IoT applications such as asset tracking/logistics, industrial sensing, smart metering, waste management, and security applications."

Through a series of partnerships across Asia, Avnet is committed to becoming the preferred partner for LPWAN and IoT solution development.

Late last year, Avnet partnered with Cisco to launch its first dream smart city project, the "Digital Life Lab," using the LoRa® platform, aiming to transform Hong Kong into a truly smart and interconnected metropolis.

Earlier this year, Avnet also partnered with Hong Kong-based telecommunications company 3 Hong Kong to provide system integration support to selected startups in its "3Innocity" program, paving the way for them to access 3 Hong Kong's extended narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) network. Avnet possesses considerable strength in the three major LPWAN technology areas, making it a unique solution provider.