Telstra is set to provide up to 4.1 million Internet of Things SIMs to Intellihub, which is a smart utility infrastructure company that specialises in providing data to energy networks, like peak-hour information and solar energy statistics.
Internet of Things (IoT) essentially means sensors and the like that are typically connected together through some means or another, be it through large networks such as the NBN or Telstra’s mobile network.
Telstra claims that it has the largest IoT network in the country, with around 1.2 million devices connected to its 4G and 5G networks.
“IoT connects everything from vehicles to machines, infrastructure, smart meters, buildings, connected vehicles, solar panels, humidity sensors, traffic cones, buses, whitegoods and garbage trucks, delivering insights and tools that previously weren’t possible,” says David Burns, the group executive of Telstra Enterprise.
“Connected technologies, such as our IoT deal with Intellihub, are helping organisations use connected technology to drive positive customer experiences and help remotely monitor their network, equipment and assets.”
So what’s this deal Telstra has with Intellihub? Well, Telstra says it has already installed nearly half a million SIM cards in Intellihub smart meters.
Within your home, if your lights, fridge, TV, stereo and phone are all connected through a Google Nest or a Google Assistant, you can probably imagine what the IoT concept is trying to achieve – interconnectivity between tech for smarter solutions to problems.
With this agreement between Telstra and Intellihub, electricity appears to be getting a whole lot smarter, with Telstra SIMs set to be soldered into Intellihub’s smart metering technology, connecting them to the Telstra network. Intellihub says that it will be a key supplier of smart metering services for Telstra Energy customers. If you’re not in the loop, Telstra will be moving into the energy market sometime soon, with energy licences acquired across Australia. An official Telstra Energy website hasn’t been launched yet, but we know it’s coming.
Intellihub’s new “Intelli-M” and “Intelli-ConX” smart meters will be deployed under this contract, providing high-speed energy network measurements within under a second.
“The new high-speed Intelli-M smart meter and Intelli-ConX communications bridge … [will be] capable of providing sub-second, high-speed measurements and enhanced connectivity for additional solar control and VPP style services,” says Intellihub.
In our “Smart” device-prefixed world, the goal of having every piece of tech connected via a network has largely been achieved – heck, I could tell my TV to turn on right now and play The Book of Boba Fett via my Google Nest, something not cheaply doable 10 years ago.
How does this impact you? Well, if your home is set to be serviced with an Intellihub smart meter (there are about 1,000 new meters installed every day), it will likely contain a Telstra SIM card, connecting it to the larger Telstra network where it can provide its data wirelessly.
We’re bound to see more things like this in the future, no doubt, as companies move to make their tech smarter.