Tasmania is about to become Australia’s first state to be declared Internet of Things ready.
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Internet of Things is the concept of connecting any device to the internet and enabling sensors to receive and send small bites of information.
TasmaNet and Thinxtra have joined forces to build a dedicated network to cover 95 per cent of the population before 2018.
The network will enable the use of devices such as smart meters, temperature probes for aquaculture and GPS trackers for agriculture.
Thinxtra network deployment director Sam Sharief said the company would deploy a network to cover 95 per cent of Tasmania – making it the first Australian State to become fully IOT-ready.
“Our low cost, low power, long range IOT network is perfect for deploying simple solutions to make cities smarter, agriculture more sustainable and industry more cost efficient,” he said.
“It can also be used for better monitoring of the exceptional Tasmanian environment, and provide solutions to reduce bushfires or control the quality of water in lakes and rivers.”
Information from IOT devices across the state will be lodged in the company’s Hobart data centre, ready for use by customers.
“I cannot understate how big this is for Tasmania – it’s going to be huge,” he said.
Thinxtra is deploying a nationwide wireless network dedicated to IOT.
The joint venture with TasmaNet is committed to rolling out up to 55 communications towers across Tasmania by the last quarter of 2017.
Hobart-based TasmaNet is providing access to its towers, its network, and engineers for ongoing maintenance and support of the network.
IOT devices work inexpensively on low bandwidth for short messages such as meter readings, GPS positions, temperature, movement, vibration levels and battery life status.
Many companies deploying objects over traditional networks are struggling with steep pricing, high energy consumption and complexity of deployment and maintenance.