Wire & Cable Asia September 2017

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2017
From the Americas
the company understands that the ecosystem is yet to
evolve to ensure safe transactions. Eva Chen, founder
and CEO, Trend Micro, said: “We have a 29-year history of
successfully anticipating technology trends to secure all
types of environments. The first mega wave we caught was
the growth of the PC marketplace; we committed early on to
endpoint protection. The second mega wave was all about
the Cloud; we made a bet early on to securing the Cloud
and so far we have secured over two billion workload hours
on Amazon Web Services (AWS) alone.
“Now we believe the next wave has arrived with IoT; our
fund will help us harness this opportunity.”
Who starts with what?
Countries are currently agonising over which IoT
technology should be utilised first: CAT-M1 offers a quicker
time-to-market, but CAT-NB1 is said to be simpler, and
more cost efficient. IoT Tech News reviewed the decisions
so far. Within the US, Verizon and AT&T are offering services
on their individual CAT-M1 networks, the logic being that
M1 can be implemented through a relatively straightforward
software update to the existing radio infrastructure, while
NB1 will require new hardware. With existing CAT-1 base
stations upgraded to support M1, providers can now
offer more competitive solutions in terms of service cost,
compared to the previous M2M technologies. Given that M1
networks are already in operation, network providers and
device manufacturers can refit base stations for an eventual
NB1 rollout almost at their leisure.
In Europe, having initially indicated they would begin with
the simpler and, eventually, lower-cost NB1 networks, they
are now opting for the lower initial investment required for
an upgrade to M1. This is due to the availability of an M1
eco-system driven by the initial USA deployment. With the
initial USA deployment in place, an M1 ecosystem has been
created that can be easily applied to Europe, with devices,
chipsets and certification processes already available. In
February 2017, Orange Europe announced pilot schemes
and deployment of M1, with NB1 to be added at some point
in the future.
Asia continues to be divided over the M1/NB1 issue. Much
like their European counterparts, Japanese operators have
opted to start with M1, motivated by the existence of an
M1 ecosystem. China, on the other hand, has chosen NB1,
driven predominantly by Huawei as the only current vendor
with a commercial narrowband offering. In South Korea this
division is even more evident, with at least one carrier ready
to roll out M1 offerings this year, but with others waiting
for NB1. Some countries will have M1 coverage, some
will have NB1 coverage, and some will have both, leaving
industry with a situation where devices that target
global applications, such as pallet tracking and cold
chain management, will need dual-mode operation as a
key requirement.
Elsewhere in USA industry
Communities get smart: US Ignite has announced the
latest cities to join the Smart Gigabit Communities
(SGC) programme. Washington DC, Phoenix, San Diego,
Albuquerque and Jackson (Tennessee) have all made a
commitment towards the adoption of next generation
smart city technologies. The SGC programme brings
together municipalities, network carriers, corporate
partners, non-profit organisations and university research
communities, to develop smart gigabit applications that
address local community needs, be they in education,
workforce development, public safety, community health,
smart energy or transportation. The announcement focused
on various initiatives taking place in the cities. Current
smart city projects in Washington DC include smart waste
management, movement analytics and water quality
sensing, while Jackson has partnered with Jackson Energy
Authority to align the city’s gigabit infrastructure as a tool,
test bed and accelerator for economic, educational and
community benefit.
In Albuquerque, the initial phase of a project to install LED
lighting around the city includes plans for sensors and
cameras in key places for monitoring and data collection,
while Phoenix is able to provide the best tools to the
area’s entrepreneurs to help them build their companies
and create real solutions for residents and businesses.
San Diego, the newest participant in the programme, will
advance innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in
the city and promote further collaboration among local
government, community leaders and corporate partners.
Every year, the newly announced SGC communities will
develop two gigabit applications or gigabit services to
provide advanced technology solutions to issues faced by
that community, as well as sharing those applications with
other SGCs. US Ignite is a non-profit organisation, helping
to accelerate new wired and wireless networking advances
from research to prototype, through to full-scale smart
community and interconnected national deployments.
Factory activity near three-year high
Despite construction spending remaining steady, USA
factory activity rose sharply in June to its highest level in
almost three years, raising hopes of economic growth in the
second quarter. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM)
said its index of national factory activity rose to a reading of
57.8 in June, its best performance since August 2014, from
54.9 in May. A reading above 50 in the ISM index indicates
an expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for roughly
12 per cent of the overall USA economy.
“The ISM index provides further evidence that the prospects
for the manufacturing sector remain bright,” said Andrew
Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics.
The index reading is another encouraging sign that the USA
economy rebounded strongly in the April-June quarter.
Following the data, the Atlanta Federal Reserve raised
its forecast for second-quarter GDP to a three per cent
annualised rate from its previous forecast of 2.7 per cent.
The Commerce Department reports that the US economy
grew at a 1.4 per cent annual rate in the first quarter, better
than had been previously estimated. The ISM survey’s new
orders sub-index rose to 63.5 in June from 59.5 in May,
while a measure of factory employment increased to a
reading of 57.2 from 53.5.
According to ISM, comments from those surveyed
generally reflected expanding conditions, “with new orders,
production, employment, backlog and exports all growing