Homegrown transit tech startup Asia Mobiliti has successfully completed the pilot deployment of Orion, an IoT device made for buses. The pilot was executed in collaboration with local fleet operator KR Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd.

Orion is the first locally-made device in the transportation and mobility industry to feature dual LTE and Sigfox connectivity in a single device. The high-bandwidth 4G LTE connectivity is enabled via an embedded SIM (eSIM), replacing the physical SIM card.

This improves the manageability of devices on large transport fleets as the operators can easily provision network connections wirelessly without the need to replace physical SIM cards in their vehicles. Physical SIM cards also run the risk of being dislodged and damaged after prolonged usage.

This technological innovation is made possible with the partnership between Asia Mobiliti and its telecommunications network partners, Digi and Xperanti. “We’re pleased to have partnered with Asia Mobiliti on their pilot project, powering one of the first adoptions of eSIM in industrial IoT devices, such as Orion,” said Digi’s Chief Digital Officer Praveen Rajan.

“eSIM is indeed the next-gen connectivity enabler and is set to be a key growth driver for all types of IoT devices. There are many use cases of eSIM with clear merits in terms of scalability, convenience, and ultra-reliability among others. We look forward to supporting Asia Mobiliti in their smart mobility agenda, as well as collaborating with more IoT ecosystem partners to deploy Digi’s eSIM technology,” he added.

Praveen Rajan, Chief Digital Officer of Digi

Orion’s Sigfox module that enables a low power wide area network (LPWAN) for asset tracking in non-powered states, including when vehicles are in workshops and service depots for long periods. Orion is able to report the vehicle’s location for periods beyond 12 months utilizing the battery-powered Sigfox module.

“Xperanti has always championed the growth of local players in the country. This partnership with Asia Mobiliti and Digi demonstrates the potential of leveraging both, high bandwidth (4G) and low bandwidth (Sigfox 0G) technology to create practical and scalable industrial IoT solutions on a connectivity agnostic IoT platform for the market,” said Chief Operating Officer Vicks Kanagasingam.

Vicks Kanasingam, CEO of Xperanti

“We are excited with our early achievements in building world-class technologies in Malaysia,” said Ramachandran Muniandy, Asia Mobiliti’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “Our partnerships with Digi and Xperanti as the local telcos for cellular and Sigfox network were crucial in the engineering and development process,” he added.

Ramachandran Muniandy, CTO of Asia Mobiliti

The pilot partner, KR Travel & Tours plans to continue its collaboration with Asia Mobiliti as its technology partner to drive new solutions and services. “Asia Mobiliti is a huge enabler of our digital transformation ambitions, and we look forward to launching new mobility services soon,” said KR Travel & Tours CEO Rajkumar Batumalai.

Orion is the first IoT product out of Asia Mobiliti’s engineering lab. “This is just the first step, said Asia Mobiliti’s co-founder and CEO, Premesh Chandran. We believe our next-generation products and services will help Southeast Asian cities keep moving, and create better journeys for all, he added.