Transportation and Automotive Sector MARKET REPORT
“The tough challenge facing hardware and software providers is to be specialists
in the core products they offer...” Daniel Pikker, Director at Sprint Telematics
present great opportunity. e
messaging to the industry must
relate to increased GDPR, FCA
interest and constantly falling
margins as the requirement for
a change in technology. ere is
a desire to do so but it must be
tangible.”
Where is the disruption
coming from? Digital Disruption
is all around… how is it
impacting this particular vertical
and how can the Channel react?
Dave Hughes, Head of
Solutions and Onboarding at
BT Final Mile, says Automotive
technology is signi cantly
changing, giving consumers
and businesses more options
and mobility solutions than ever
before.
“ is technology is disrupting
the automotive supply chain,
highlighting the need for
improved connectivity between
each part of the supply chain.
Should businesses embrace
this disruption, it will enable
stakeholders to better meet
customer demand, and reduce
time to market.
One highly commended
smart logistics solution that’s
signi cantly impacting the
automotive supply chain is
BT Final Mile. Working with
Rico Logistics, Final Mile is a
nationwide network of 5,000
smart lockers and 3,500 pods
across 1,800 locations in the UK.
ese secure lockers are placed on
the BT estate to allow engineers
to pick up goods on their route in
order to reduce driving hours.”
Daniel Pikker, Director at
Sprint Telematics says that one
of the disrupters on the horizon
is the advent of 5G connectivity
and the reduced costs of data.
“Along the same line is
the ability to have universal
components and in particular,
SIM cards that can switch
between di erent providers.
Digital Disruption is all
around and its impact can be
seen in the ever-developing
sophistication of technology.
e result can be seen in current
technology not being able to be
catered for and in some instances
becoming obsolete overnight. An
example of this is 2G network
capability no longer being
supported in certain regions.
e channel reaction should
be to stay informed about
industry trends and upcoming
developments of service providers
and hardware suppliers. Only by
having a nger on the pulse of
upcoming advancements, will
R&D teams be able to respond in
a pro-active way.”
Which products and services
are selling well?
Dave Hughes at BT Final
Mile, says that in 2018, BT Final
Mile was formally introduced
to the wider B2B market, with
three external customers with a
network of 600 sites and 700 new
lockers.
“Now, BT Final Mile has 18
customers, with 8,500+ units
across 1,800 sites, with a 140%
increase in revenue.”
e demand for video footage
from the various stakeholders
and end-users in the market is on
the increase according to Daniel
Pikker at Sprint Telematics.
“Business owners, eet
managers, drivers/operators,
private vehicle owners and
insurance companies are all
looking to the multitude of
camera solutions in the market
to address their various needs.
Business owners and managers
want to be able to have a view
into how company assets are
utilised, all in the e ort to reduce
operating costs and reduce their
risk pro les.
Drivers/operators and private
vehicle owners are better able to
protect themselves from liability
through visual evidence of an
incident. Insurance companies
are looking to better apportion
cause and fault of claims
submitted by clients and third
parties.
e demand for telematics
devices that are able to provide
‘live’ Controller Area Network
(CAN) bus data from a wide
range of equipment/assets is also
fast on the rise. is coupled
with software that can display
this data in a user-friendly and
con gurable interface, is proving
valuable to all in management
and operations. OEM’s of
vehicles and other assets are also
growing their presence with
this type of o ering, not only to
gather and use analytical data
from their products, but also to
o er an additional value-add
product and service to their
customers.”
Are there new products on the
horizon?
Anton Le Saux , Head of M2M
& IoT at Zest4 says they are
always developing and adding
to their portfolio.
“We are currently looking
at two new products, one is
a simple solution to sell that
will open the market up to
more customers and the other
is a signi cant change in the
way cameras operate using AI
technology.
e rst product is a twin
camera solution, for both
internal and external views, that
is connected using our secure
SIM management platform but
can be self installed. It plugs
directly into the OBD port of
the vehicle, so it’s as simple as
plugging in a USB stick. is
means it can be moved easily
between vehicles, it can be
used on rental or short-term
lease vehicles, or vehicles where
owners want a lost cost entry
level product. We believe it is
the rst OBD fully connected
camera solution to hit the
marketplace in the UK.
e second is a really cool
piece of kit that uses facial
recognition technology to
monitor the driver. It can tell
if the driver is getting bored,
distracted or tired (amongst
other things). Once it recognises
a change in the drivers state it
will either alert the driver to
pull over and take a break or
alert the business owner / eet
manager or both.”
BT Final Mile is always
looking for ways to innovate
and expand its service and take
it to the next level says Dave
Hughes at BT Final Mile.
“From looking at ways
in which Final Mile can
increase the functionality of
the service in order to meet
customer demand, to looking
at how we can further reduce
carbon emissions and reduce
maintenance costs, there’s a lot
in the pipeline for Final Mile.”
Daniel Pikker at Sprint
Telematics, “ e tough challenge
facing hardware and software
providers is to be specialists in
the core products they o er, but
also to have these products able
to integrate into other modules
o ered as well as to share data
across to 3rd party platforms.
ere is a lot of advancements >
Telematics: One of the disrupters on the horizon is the advent of 5G connectivity
and the reduced costs of data
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