SqwidNet, the Sigfox operator in South Africa, has restructured to handle massive IoT deployments, and rebranded itself as Sigfox South Africa.

The change follows an extensive restructuring of network licences and assets that SqwidNet formerly managed.

Sigfox South Africa is a fully licensed national network operator focused on commercialising the country’s growing Sigfox 0G network coverage. The network has been built over a number of years and is considered a tier-one network among global operators covering 95% of the population, and 90% of national roads.

The newly established company is backed by investors comprising Community Investment Venture Holdings (CIVH), Discovery Insure, Fidelity ADT, Macrocomm and Buffet Investments.

“The Sigfox 0G technology is a critical connectivity service in South Africa due to its positive and significant impact on a large value chain that depends on its sustainability and viability locally,” said non-executive director Sivi Moodley. “The investment from all the partners provides a strong platform and support for use case development, adoption and accelerated growth.”

Massive IoT is essential to the modern world, relaying crucial data and decisions between physical devices and the digital world. The IoT Industry Council of South Africa (IoTIC) has urged more focus on low-cost, effective technologies to ensure South Africa is 4IR ready. Sigfox 0G technology has demonstrated IoT can be put to work for communities, people and businesses, including improved security systems, more efficient city services, and automated mining and manufacturing operations.

According to IoT Analytics, in 2022 the global IoT market will grow 18% to 14.4 billion active connections and reach 27 billion connected IoT devices by 2025. However, massive IoT is still a developing market, full of opportunity and risk. When SqwidNet launched in 2016 as the licensed Sigfox operator for South Africa, it helped establish the credibility of IoT investments in the country. However, in mid-2021, SqwidNet’s stakeholders agreed the company required a fundamental restructuring to incorporate lessons learned over the previous five years.

Sigfox South Africa is the outcome of this restructuring. Working with investors, Sigfox South Africa aims to align its operations and strategy to the changing nature of the local IoT market.

“We’ve taken past lessons to heart, but we also learned that our customers are loyal and proactive because they see the direct value massive IoT creates for them and their customers,” said non-executive director Raymond Ndlovu. “In technology, you learn from risks and never lose sight of meaningful, market-relevant innovation. This is the ethos of Sigfox South Africa, and we look forward to helping IoT make even more positive impacts for everyone.”

Such a realignment is not unusual in the fast-growing and dynamic IoT market. For example, the Sigfox 0G technology has been recently acquired by UnaBiz, a massive IoT service provider that started as the Sigfox 0G network operator in Singapore and Taiwan but has since connected over ten million devices and serviced 1500 customers globally.

“UnaBiz is pleased to welcome Sigfox South Africa to the global 0G network operator community,” said Henri Bong, CEO of UnaBiz. “As one of the fastest-growing IoT markets in the MEA region, massive IoT adoption has accelerated significantly in South Africa over the last few years. We look forward to working closely with Sigfox South Africa to bring down the cost and complexity of massive IoT adoption in a vast number of sectors including energy, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, logistics and so on.”

SqwidNet’s customers, now supported by Sigfox SA, will have uninterrupted access to the Sigfox 0G network. Having serviced the South African market and local customers, LPWANs have consistently demonstrated reliability, performance and cost to keep IoT devices online. The ability to provide connectivity to devices without the need for external power sources is a significant win for the African market and its ability to roll out digital services.