Complete software solution for device vendors and service providers: Actility

Founded in 2010, Actility began as a company exploring smart grid and smart city solutions. Quickly discovering that a common problem was how to connect sensors distributed over wide areas with good indoor coverage, the company began to focus on key enablers, and was one of the pioneers of LoRaWAN™ networking. As well as being a contributor to the open LoRaWAN™ standard, Actility was one of the founding members of the LoRa Alliance™. The company has continued to develop enablers with the ThingPark platform, and in parallel has launched a vertical solution for smart grid.

Actility in the Market
Actility is a global leader in the IOT Software and Infrastructure space that is sold to communication service providers and enterprises. Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technology is a foundational piece of IOT that will bring mass scale adoption of IOT on a global basis. 14 billion of the 28 billion total IOT connected objects by 2021 will be non-cellular connections. Actility’s mission is to enable the largest private and public LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) IOT network in the world and control the key software assets that allow device activation, management as well as data mediation of the valuable IOT sensor data In addition, Actility is moving up the value stack by providing applications and enabling a global IOT marketplace that makes ecommerce seamless. Solution is technology agnostic and addresses cellular and non cellular standards.

Wireless Technology at its Best

ThingPark Wireless: Core software and infrastructure that is being sold to Communication Providers that enables them to set up an IOT network very fast with minimal network planning, low deployment costs and provides long battery life of 10+ years on end devices attached to this network. Core software provides everything from basic connectivity to managing, activation and instantly provisioning IOT devices.

ThingPark Mash Up: According to Mckinsey 40% of all IOT saving in the global market will be attributable to interoperability of IOT systems and Sensor data. In addition a majority of this sensor data is lost today. This data layer standardizes all kinds of sensor data so that customers can make sense of the data, store the data without data loss and use the data for data analytics and massive cost savings.

ThingPark MarketPlace: A marketplace offering interoperability-tested products that allows ecommerce between IOT buyers and sellers and provides full compatibility and instant activation and provisioning of these devices and applications.

As well, Actility has an applications business in the utility space that takes advantage of Actility’s core proposition to offer an end-to-end “Demand Response” smart grid solution for energy distributors and retailers.

Why is the ThingPark Wireless technology unique?
The radio technology used by ThingPark Wireless is fully bi-directional. It supports both monitoring and remote triggering of sensors and therefore covers a wider range of innovative IoT applications.

ThingPark Wireless^® uses LoRaWAN™ Spread Spectrum modulation allowing for coverage on a range of 2 to 5 km in dense city areas and up to 15 km for countryside applications. Only a few base stations are required for a Smart City application.

ThingPark Wireless is seamlessly integrated with ThingPark Mash-up with its simple standards-based API. This interface allows for easy application development and deployment, perhaps through ThingPark Market.

The ThingPark Wireless^® network supports low-power sensors requiring less than 15mA which cannot be covered using traditional short range wireless networks or traditional ISM technologies.

It is all about customers anyway!
Smart Utilities, Smart City, Smart Agriculture and Industry 4.0 are all within Actility’s scope. Currently, the core client base consists of communication service providers worldwide, including Proximus, KPN, Orange, Swisscom, Digita, Du, Asia-Pacific telecom and Softbank. With partners such as Cisco and Inmarsat, the future client base will expand to include enterprise customers.

“SoftBank has been impressed with Actility’s deep knowledge of the LPWA market and their efforts in pioneering LoRaWAN. We look forward to building a vibrant LPWA business in Japan through close technology and market collaboration with Actility and their ecosystem partners” -Hironobu Tamba, Vice President, Service Platform Strategy & Development Division of SoftBank.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Actility. IoT has the potential to transform cities, industry and transport, and also the way we live and work. The synergies generated by bringing together Foxconn’s design, manufacturing and technology capabilities and Actility’s expertise in LPWA networking technology, will enable us to capitalize on theimmense opportunities presented in the IoT era.” -Fang-Ming Lu, Executive Vice President of Foxconn.

Meet the Executive Duo

CEO, Mike Mulica: Mike has long been intrigued with the nexus of mobile communications, the internet and globally scaled industry solutions. Mike is a mobile and internet industry veteran, playing a foundational role in pioneering the Mobile Internet and has led many highly successful companies and product introductions across the globe. At Actility, Mike has overall operational responsibilities for the company’s global mission, to connect objects across every imaginable vertical solution through the deployment of Thingpark™.

Founder and CTO, Olivier Hersent: Olivier is a recognized telecom and technology expert. He founded NetCentrex, a leading provider of VoIP infrastructure for service providers, and then became CTO of Comverse after the acquisition of NetCentrex in 2006. Olivier is a recognized thought leader in Telecoms and Energy markets. He is the author of several books on networking technology, VoIP, M2M, Internet of Things (IoT) and the Smart Grid. Olivier graduated from Ecole Polytechnique. Olivier founded Actility, IoT solution provider, in 2010. Via its ThingPark Wireless platform, Actility uses the LoRaWAN™ technology to enable LPWA IoT networks for applications such as Smart Cities.

“We will continue to launch products and end to end services that extend the capabilities of enablers and enter new industry verticals.”