Eir embarks on internet of things adventure with a platform powered by Asavie

23 Feb 2016

Bill Archer from Eir with Asavie's Ralph Shaw

Eir is to enter the internet of things (IoT) universe with the help of Irish tech company Asavie, which has built the IoT Connect platform for the telecoms operator, it was revealed at Mobile World Congress this morning (23 February).

The move will enable businesses of all sizes to embrace the internet of things opportunity.

Asavie-built IoT Connect can be used by small and large companies from healthcare to transport and manufacturing to connect machines in the field to the internet and gather real-time intelligent data.

The platform is built on Asavie’s PassBridge technology, which is designed to enable telecoms operators like Eir to deliver scalable and secure SIM-based machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.

This will see Eir’s cellular network be used by businesses to connect machines in the field via a self-care portal that firms can log in to over a public cloud or through a VPN.

“Together with Asavie, Eir Business makes managing connected devices easier than ever, so businesses can focus on collecting their data, refining their applications and ultimately building a better service for their customers,” said Bill Archer, managing director of Eir Business.

Speaking with Siliconrepublic.com, Asavie CEO Ralph Shaw said that the key to what Asavie does is making complex technology simple for businesses to use.

“The IoT world is all about connecting end points to back-end systems. We take away the pain point and connect a source to its destination. We built our own core technology PassBridge, which is patented in the US and Europe.”

Founded in 2004, Asavie has enabled more than 20 operators worldwide to connect more than 20,000 businesses to the IoT.

The privately-funded company employs 100 people at its headquarters in Dublin.

The company reported revenues of $21m last year and has enjoyed 100pc growth over the last four years.

Asavie is making industrial IoT a reality

Yesterday at Mobile World Congress, Asavie also revealed that its PassBridge technology underpins the INFINITE IoT industrial testbed announced last year by EMC and Vodafone as part of a €2m investment in Cork.

The testbed enables companies to road-test their machine-to-machine and IoT projects across mobile cellular networks prior to scaling into production.

“Asavie is fulfilling an important role in the industrial IoT community through their involvement with INFINITE,” said EMC CTO Ireland and director of research Europe, Donagh Buckley.

“INFINITE is proving to be a valuable industrial internet testbed for a growing number of industries, including smart cities and healthcare. As the need for more dynamic systems continues to grow, organisations are utilising mobile networks to connect to virtual systems.

“Asavie PassBridge technology enables companies to prove the viability of doing all this in a secure and scalable manner.”

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com