After 4G, which now covers almost 98% of the population, and in view of the completion of 5G, which by 2019 it will make Milan the first metropolitan area in Europe with 100% coverage (80% already by 2018), for Vodafone it is already time for the Internet of Things. That is, to make the technological evolution of the network available to customers, which with 5G will reach a speed of 10 gbps (with 4G it is now 800 mbps) with a reaction time of 1/8 of a millisecond, connecting them to objects of use and utility daily.
Vodafone therefore launches V by Vodafone, to use which, in any case, 3G connections will suffice and there will not even be a need to connect to a Wi-Fi network: everything will be included in the package, which will cost 3 or 5 euros per month depending on the service offered (indeed, it is good to clarify this immediately, every 4 weeks). We start with four items: the car, the bag (with the important objects it contains), the video camera for monitoring the house and, inevitable for customers with a four-legged friend, the dog (but why not the cat too). The service starts today in four countries that will create the first ecosystem dedicated by Vodafone to its consumer customers: Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.
V-Auto he will therefore be able to monitor not only the driving style but also the position of the car, to find it anytime and anywhere, and will make emergency calls to first aid numbers in the event of an accident, after having first tried to call the customer. The V-bag, created in collaboration with Alcatel, is instead a small device that will monitor the movement of the bag and the important objects it contains, alerting the user about their position and about moving away from a predefined area. The same goes for the four-legged friend (V-Pet), of which you will be able to know everything – where it is but also how much physical activity it does – with a simple click on the app. In the end V-Cam, Arlo's Go Mobile HD which offers a video surveillance system even without Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, even in the most remote places, with the possibility of recording videos in the cloud.
For car and home related services, the cost is 5 euros every 28 days and even the purchase of the devices is a little more demanding: 379 euros for the Camera, 79 euros for the V-Auto. Alcatel's Movetrack for checking bags and suitcases costs 59 euros (and then 3 euros every four weeks for the service) while the device to connect to your pet costs 49 euros (and again 3 euros for the service, every four weeks ). "Everything will be manageable in a simple and intuitive way with a single app", the technical managers of the project explained at a conference in Milan.
A project which for Vodafone means consecration in the Internet of Things sector: a market which at a global level will see connected objects more than double in the five-year period 2016-21 (from the current 5,7 to 13,7 billion) and which in Italy is growing by 30-40% annually, with Vodafone already at the forefront: “Almost half of the objects connected in Italy are with Vodafone and we have 59 million connected objects in 32 countries around the world,” explains Vodafone.
“The Internet of things – he commented the global CEO, Vittorio Colao – has already begun to change the way business is done. Over the next ten years you will radically change the way people live, in their homes and in their free time. V by Vodafone provides a range of services available to customers and for the safety of them and the things they hold dear”. V by Vodafone, which therefore has a fixed price and can be managed from the app, will also be usable throughout Europe without the need for Wi-Fi and at no additional cost.
