Homegrown transit technology company Asia Mobiliti Technologies Sdn Bhd (Asia Mobiliti) has entered into a strategic partnership with IoT network operator Xperanti Sdn Bhd (Xperanti) to enable low power wide area network (LPWAN) connectivity in its mobility and transport solutions.

In the agreement, Xperanti will be providing Asia Mobiliti with Sigfox IoT network connectivity technology for full hardware and software integration into Asia Mobiliti’s platform. This will then improve the capability of Asia Mobiliti’s devices and data platform for vehicle and cargo telematics, thus enhancing the Asia Mobiliti client experience.

Sigfox is the initiator of the 0G network and is currently the world’s leading IoT service provider. The Sigfox global network allows billions of devices to connect to the Internet directly with minimal energy consumption through its unique approach for device-to-cloud communications that address the three greatest barriers to global IoT adoption: cost, energy consumption, and global scalability.

Sigfox is also ISO9001-certified and surrounded by a large ecosystem of partners and IoT key players. Headquartered in France, Sigfox is present in over 60 countries, with a global mission to empower companies to digitize their business models. The tech is especially popular in the Asset Tracking and Supply Chain sectors.

“We have chosen Sigfox as our LPWAN of choice due to a number of strategic and technical factors. Firstly, we like that Sigfox is cross-border and represents a truly global network. Secondly, the price-value technology offering of the network presents a superior choice over all other LPWAN protocols. And finally, but equally important is the readiness of the local operator, Xperanti with its impressive national coverage and local support,” said Ramachandran Muniandy, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Asia Mobiliti.

Xperanti Chief Operating Officer Vicks Kanagasingam explained that the logistics of moving people and goods play a pivotal part in everyday urban life. He said that “with Malaysia’s urbanisation rate peaking at 80% by 2020, daily road congestion is eating away precious time and resources, and contributing to climate change. Klang Valley residents spend more than 250 million hours a year stuck in traffic. Hence, the demand for smart transportation is higher than ever. Together, Asia Mobiliti and Xperanti will provide practical solutions that will increase operational efficiency and reduce commuting time.”

Vicks also said that the collaboration was in line with Xperanti’s focused efforts to support Malaysian SMEs to adopt practical, scalable and sustainable Industrial IoT solutions in order to compete with larger companies, as well as support the adoption of Industry 4.0.

Vicks Kanasingam, CEO of Xperanti and Ramachandran Muniandy, CTO of Asia Mobiliti

Asia Mobiliti Chief Executive Officer Premesh Chandran said that Xperanti is a natural partner for Asia Mobiliti as the latter works on its up-and-coming mobility platform which aims to power intelligent transit systems for cities in Southeast Asia. Asia Mobiliti’s core focus is to improve urban transportation by building a data platform of transit technology components, including IoT devices for public transit vehicles, a next-generation fleet management system, and a multi-modal journey planning app.

“At Asia Mobiliti, we anticipate that urban transit will become increasingly data and tech-driven. From autonomous vehicles to last-mile options such as electric scooters and electric bikes, commuters will increasingly adopt multi-modal transport options, rather than just an exclusive reliance on private cars” said Premesh.

“A common mobility platform will allow transport services to be better integrated, reach out to a wider customer base and spur faster adoption. This, in turn, will lower mobility costs while supporting the viability of our public transport systems,” he added, sharing Asia Mobiliti’s long term goals.