Heading home from work late, and you’re not sure whether there is a packet of milk in the refrigerator? You may soon find it easy to communicate with your fridge, TV, water and electricity meters and other household gadgets, as the race to roll out internet of things (IoT) gathers pace in Kenya.
JamboPay, which is better known for having launched Nairobi’s first mobile phone-based car parking payment service, has obtained a regulatory license to roll out mobile phone services in Kenya and also connect up to one million machines through the IoT technology.
JamboPay’s parent company, Web Tribe Limited, has been awarded a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) license by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), effectively allowing it to lease spectrum from mobile network operators and roll out communications services.
Pilot tests
The firm, which has created a niche for itself in the online payment services sector, says it is conducting pilot tests ahead of rolling out several commercial services in Nairobi later this year and subsequently to other parts of the country.
Its services will include smart communications networks that will enable Kenyans to monitor their water and electricity meters and pay for the bills as well as track their vehicles.
"We intend to utilise the MVNO licence to provide additional services to our client base. The services will include internet of things services," said the JamboPay Chief Executive Officer Danson Muchemi.
JamboPay’s new licence puts it in competition with Kenya’s biggest telecommunications operator, Safaricom, which has also made public plans to utilise its 4G internet to provide IoT services.
Internet of things
The emerging global market for "internet of things," the concept of connecting household devices to the internet, has been chiefly used for vehicle tracking, mobile payments and building of smart cities.
Mr Muchemi told the Nation that the firm will invest Sh300 million to launch a range of services including mobile payments in the public transport and energy sectors.South Africa, the continent’s most advanced economy, has been the leader in rolling out internet-connected devices, with the latest project being smart meters for a power utility in the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg."We will make available the IoT network to innovators, applications developers and device manufacturers," said Mr Muchemi Monday.Safaricom has also previously announced plans to launch IoT technology to deliver smart water and energy metering and animal tracking services.Businesses can also use IoT to manage their fleet of vehicles.Safaricom spent […]