Ericsson, China Mobile Cement IoT Partnership

Ericsson and China Mobile have inked a deal to work together on the Internet of Things.

In a statement announcing the partnership, Ericsson said the companies will collaborate “to manage connections efficiently, provide a consistent service to global enterprise customers and to explore new Internet of Things markets.” The first major, tangible realization of this aim will be China Mobile’s use of the Ericsson Device Connectivity Platform for IoT connections. Launched in 2008, the platform is already used by over 24 mobile operators.

Commenting on the partnership, China Mobile EVP Yuejia Sha said the mobile operator “expects to have 200 million IoT connections” this year, and suggested the collaboration would produce “win-win results” for both companies.

The official partnership cements a relationship already established through previous collaboration between the companies, with Ericsson and China Mobile having tested a 5G-connected drone last summer, and having put together a smart city demo with Intel for last year’s Mobile World Congress in Shanghai.