Tata Communications ties up with Taiwan's Chunghwa for global IoT connectivity

Tata Communications, the telecom arm of the diversified Tata Group, has struck a partnership with Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom to provide global mobile connectivity for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the Indian company said in a stock exchange filing.

As part of the partnership, Chunghwa will take advantage of Tata's Move IoT platform, which has its own network of mobile service operators, for connectivity of all its deployed IoT devices.

Tata Communications, which caters to enterprise customers and service providers worldwide. will also add Chunghwa to its ecosystem of network providers.

“Cellular connectivity is an effective foundation for IoT services, but the problem is that today’s mobile networks are inherently local - there is no such concept as a global mobile network. We want to change that,” said Anthony Bartolo, chief product officer at Tata Communications. 

Chunghwa Telecom intends to tap into additional revenues by connecting IoT devices through Tata's Move. 

“Our aim is to generate millions of subscriptions from IoT devices in the next three years, and our work with Tata Communications will help us fulfil this ambition,” said Ming-Shih Chen, President of Mobile Business Group, Chunghwa Telecom. 

Chen said Move will give Chunghwa's IoT services customers borderless network coverage across 200 countries.

Tata Communications said that Chinghwa has already sold the service to TaiDoc, which manufactures premium medical devices to track people's health and the quality of life, to reach its devices in countries such as China, Thailand and the US. 

Chunghwa, which is Taiwan's largest telecommunications company, is also looking to capitalise on the country's booming electronics and wearables industry. 

While the electronics industry is expected to have an output of $228 billion in 2018, the wearables segment grew at double digits both in terms of value and volume last year. 

Market research firm IDC predicts that the worldwide installed base of IoT endpoints will grow from 20 billion by the end of 2018 to more than 82 billion in 2025.

British telecom giant Vodafone has also been working at developing IoT infrastructure. 

The company is expected to start a pilot project to test out its 4G internet IoT-enabled drone tracking and safety tech for the European Union in a bid to protect aircraft and prevent inadvertent or criminal drone incursions at sensitive locations such as airports, prisons and hospitals.

Tata Communications had announced earlier this month that it recorded a net profit of Rs 10.12 crore for October-December 2017. The company sold and discontinued some of its operations over the past year.