German-based Tier-1 IoT network carrier 1NCE and China Telecom Global (CTG) yesterday announced their partnership for the commercial launch of the latter’s NB-IoT roaming SIM for China, offering the 1NCE IoT Flat Rate with NB-IoT/4G coverage.
The partnership enables international companies to enter the Chinese market with their IoT products while their Chinese counterparts are able to expand their IoT business worldwide. Besides NB-IoT service for mainland China, the new China+ SIM card also provides 4G coverage for markets including Hong Kong and Macau.
The new 1NCE China+ SIM delivers reliable cellular connectivity at a single tariff of 10 Euros for a lifetime of 10 years, including 500 MB data volume and 250 SMS, which can be top up when the data have been used up. The SIM card is now available to order at the 1NCE website.
“By overcoming technical obstacles in the integration between both networks and supporting a new NB-IOT roaming model, we have successfully enabled 1NCE to launch its regional NB-IoT offering. We are proud to have reached this milestone with 1NCE as one of our first commercial NB-IoT carrier partners.”, says He An, executive vice president, CTG. “Not only for those international customers needing IoT connectivity services for China, we are also actively supporting domestic Chinese manufactures for overseas NB deployment. 1NCE as our partner will allow us to extend our offering to more parts of the world.”
The multi-coverage SIM card developed by 1NCE provides the technological basis for its service, the 1NCE IoT Flat Rate. It allows for smooth transitioning between different mobile communication standards, including 2G, 3G, 4G, NB-IoT and LTE-M. 1NCE already cooperates with another European Tier-1 network provider and is covering more than 100 countries worldwide. With over 3,500 customers, 1NCE has already sold more than 5 million SIM cards so far since the launch of its business in August 2018.
Meanwhile, China Telecom’s 4G and 5G network supports a wide variety of IoT use cases. The low- and medium-speed requirements are handled with NB-IoT and CAT1 network. The number of NB-connected devices has now exceeded 70 million, ranging from smart home appliances to smart city devices.
In the 5G era, China Telecom has invested heavily to support new applications including HD video, autonomous driving, and beyond. After having launched the world’s first SA commercial network capability in 2019 in Shenzhen, China Telecom accelerated the construction of a nationwide SA network for commercial use.
The collaboration with CTG makes 1NCE one of the first IoT carriers worldwide to offer a high-quality solution for seamless NB-IoT and 4G connectivity across the world. Its robust and scalable footprint provides significant benefits to multinational customers such as original equipment manufacturers.
“With the 1NCE IoT Flat Rate we create a new, unprecedented standard for IoT connectivity for the markets in Greater China”, adds Alexander Sator, CEO of 1NCE. “We are pleased to start our coverage expansion together with China Telecom Global now. The Covid-19 pandemic is keeping the world in suspense – but innovation must continue. And connectivity, communication and digitisation have never been more important.”
The 1NCE IoT Flat Rate is designed for the lifetime of IoT-enabled devices, focusing on long-lasting B2B applications with low data volumes such as asset tracking, tank monitoring, vehicle telemetry, smart metering, and waste management. 1NCE’s flat-rate model ensures maximum price transparency and easily calculable costs.
