U.S. operator AT&T said it is bringing to market the Notecard platform, intended to accelerate and streamline massive deployments of IoT devices and applications for enterprise and government customers worldwide, via mobile connectivity. According to AT&T, Notecard allows assets to be connected to the cloud with carrier-grade security, delivers prepaid connectivity and allows product integrators, with its System on Module (SOM) enabling connections using just two lines of code.
The platform permits developers of a broad range of commercial and industrial products to embed highly secure prepaid global connectivity through AT&T’s LTE-M and NB-IoT Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) networks designed for IoT applications, without the complexity of Wi-Fi connections. Data is routed to cloud providers or application end points of the customer’s choosing. Notecard makes possible the remote management of devices, connectivity, and data, empowering the manufacturers to better understand the ways in which their assets are used in the field and to open new revenue streams for services like proactive maintenance and usage-based pricing models.
Notecard can be used by industries such as automotive, healthcare, industrial, manufacturing, supply chain and transportation, among others. It enables mobile connections for wearables, asset tracking, home appliances and utility meters. Notecard is suited for low to medium data rate transmissions.
The platform is available from the AT&T IoT Marketplace.
Tarifica’s Take
A major operator such as AT&T has the deep pockets to enable research and development at a level where the creation of ambitious products such as Notecard becomes possible. The scope and potential of IoT is already very large and only getting larger, so bringing an IoT enabler to market holds great promise in terms of customer acquisition and of course revenue generation. The fact that it is being aimed at large enterprises and government entities makes its revenue possibilities even more impressive.
Having developed what appears to be a very flexible and powerful technology, AT&T is taking the most open approach possible, offering it to customers who can use it to design their own systems and integrate their own products, in whatever ways fit their unique needs. The prepaid payment structure and the simple plug-and-play integration make its implementation a more or less seamless affair.
With the Notecard system, AT&T, most of whose core wireless business is located in the U.S., has a way to extend its reach across the globe, given that the product is usable anywhere. AT&T’s custom-designed LTE-M and NB-IoT Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) networks are created land installed locally. Notecard seems to have the ability to open up revenue streams for enterprises, to make government business more efficient and to make it possible for all entities to remotely manage devices and learn from them. It should be a win-win for the operator and its customers.