Verizon this week continued its hard push into the Internet of Things (IoT) space with its acquisition of smart city company Sensity Systems.
Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Sensity Systems embeds network technology in new and retrofitted LED streetlights to create a smart lighting solution for facilities and municipalities. Using its NetSense platform, the company offers lighting owners the ability to reduce energy costs and implement other smart city technologies like public safety applications, environmental and weather monitoring, parking management and location analytics.
The company currently has 42 smart city installations worldwide, Verizon said.
Verizon Senior Vice President of Enterprise Products and IoT Mike Lanman said the acquisition will “accelerate the deployment of large-scale implementations that will drive the digital transformation of cities, universities and venues.” Lanman said the deal will also help strengthen Verizon’s position to provide “holistic solutions” for smart city applications.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is, however, expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
The acquisition is just the latest IoT investment from Verizon. Over the last several months, the carrier has been snapping up IoT companies left and right as part of a push to grow its IoT business.
In June, Verizon acquired telematics company Telogis for an undisclosed sum and followed up with a second telematics buy when it acquired Fleetmatics in August.
Verizon’s current IoT portfolio, which includes solutions like its plug-in hum vehicle diagnostic and tracking tool, grew 25 percent year over year in the second quarter to pull in $205 million in revenue.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said during the carrier’s second quarter earnings call Verizon has seen “strong demand” for its telematics products and sees “many opportunities to expand in the market” going forward. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said the carrier is expecting its IoT revenues to ramp up going into 2017.
But Verizon is up against some stiff competition from U.S. wireless competitor AT&T.
At the end of the second quarter 2016, AT&T had more than 28 million connected devices – including over 9 million connected cars – on its network. And last week at CTIA, the carrier announced it will be the exclusive carrier of the new connected bicycle LeEco Super Bike; is working with PrecisionKing on agricultural IoT solutions and Arrow Electronics on industrial IoT applications; and has partnered with Qualcomm to test drones on its 4G LTE network.
