Hong Kong and San Jose, CA (11 January 2017) – SmarTone, Hong Kong’s leading telecommunications service provider, and Cisco today announced the launch of Internet of Things (IoT) services in Hong Kong. This partnership enables businesses in any industry to leverage the SmarTone mobile network and the Cisco Jasper managed connectivity platform, Control Center, to deliver new services and increase revenue.

Real IoT Drives Real Business Results

IoT helps businesses meet the changing needs and expectations of their customers with new services, experiences and business models that deliver bottom line growth. This partnership between SmarTone and Cisco Jasper makes it simple for companies of any size to transform their businesses by offering connected services that enhance their customers’ experiences while enabling new revenue models.

“For more than 10 years we have been helping businesses across every industry automate the delivery of IoT services that have a direct impact on their bottom line,” said Ken Laversin, Worldwide Head of Sales, IoT Cloud at Cisco Jasper. “Today, more than 6,500 companies in over 100 countries use Cisco Jasper Control Center to automate the connectivity management of their IoT devices around the world. SmarTone’s leadership as a total service provider – including Cloud, Mobile, Fixed, ICT and IoT services – makes it an ideal partner to serve innovative businesses pursuing IoT in Hong Kong.”

Transforming Businesses in Every Industry

Today, businesses in industries as varied as connected cars, manufacturing, retail, security, home automation, and smart cities – and everything in between – are realizing the benefits of IoT. Global examples include:

• Connected Cars – 23 of the world’s leading auto makers leverage the Cisco Jasper platform today for their connected car initiatives. One auto manufacturer cites that IoT services will drive $350 million in increased profit over the next three years.
• Smart Cities – From intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to smart utilities, today’s smart cities rely on IoT. One smart utilities provider uses Cisco Jasper to enable cities to reduce the time spent managing smart watering meters by 75%, and has helped its customers save more than 79 million gallons (300 million liters) of water.
• Industrial Manufacturing – IoT plays a critical role in increasing the efficiency and profitability of today’s factories. A leading global provider of industrial robots uses Cisco Jasper to monitor and proactively identify potential problems with its machines, so that robots are serviced before they can cause downtime. This has decreased downtime by 11%, saving its manufacturing customers tens of thousands of dollars per minute of downtime.

With today’s announcement, all businesses throughout Hong Kong can take advantage of SmarTone’s leading mobile network and Cisco Jasper Control Center to deliver IoT services of their own. Cisco Jasper partners with 30+ mobile operator groups representing over 120 mobile networks worldwide, making it simple for those businesses to scale their IoT services to other countries as needed. Likewise, companies using the Cisco Jasper platform outside of Hong Kong can easily expand their connected services into the country via SmarTone.

The Role of Managed Connectivity

The meaningful IoT business outcomes that are being achieved across industries worldwide are only possible through managed connectivity. By automating communication between people, things and systems, managed connectivity enables the secure, anytime, anywhere relationship businesses need to have with their customers.

“We are committed to helping our business customers take advantage of IoT to deliver real business results, and to achieve that we needed the best IoT connectivity management platform,” said Daniel Leung, Head of Business Markets at SmarTone. “Cisco Jasper is the global leader in IoT platforms, and this partnership makes it simple for all businesses to capture their share of the IoT market by delivering new connected services.”