Telefonica has announced the launch of an Internet of Things (IoT) focused initiative called The Thinx, described as an open ecosystem for the development of IoT products and services via technologies such as Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) and LTE-M. The project's labs are designed to enable customers to test and integrate new applications and devices under real network conditions in a collaborative space. Telefonica has already launched The Thinx laboratories in Chile and Rio de Janeiro, with a Madrid lab to be inaugurated this week ahead of new openings in London, Berlin and Buenos Aires.
The company said the new Madrid lab is one of only 26 GSMA-backed spaces incorporating “all relevant players in the area of the network, chipsets and platforms”, while also including other IoT technologies such as the LPWA-based network of France's Sigfox. It also envisages the certification of products and their possible use in group projects.
Telefonica also announced the publication of a report entitled “Things Matter”, an in-depth study of the current situation of the IoT sector in Spain through surveys and interviews covering direct user experiences with IoT services or connected things such as connected vehicles and luggage, trackers for pets and smart dressing rooms.
The company revealed in the report that it expected its IoT unit to earn around EUR 290 million in 2017, some 30 percent more than in 2016, but that the business had only just begun.
