Maxis launches Malaysia’s first commercial NB-IoT service

• Service will be activated in key IoT market centres around the country
• Telco to leverage on Vodafone’s global expertise in NB-IoT

MAXIS has announced the launch of the first commercial Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) service in Malaysia.

Starting April 16, Maxis is activating its NB-IoT network in selected areas within key IoT market centres, which include Cyberjaya, Penang, Kuching, Putrajaya, Johor Bahru, and KLCC.

As part of the launch, Maxis will also offer NB-IoT solutions and promote the development of the local ecosystem through sharing of global best practices and the curation of best in breed solutions.

Businesses will now be able to deploy industrial IoT applications to form new data streams, enabling actionable insights by connecting simple devices such as sensors.

NB-IoT, a dedicated network for IoT technology, brings 5G-like capabilities albeit for lower bandwidth applications, today, and has the ability to support millions of connected things which consumes very low power and therefore lends itself to delivering a long battery life.

The technology will power up Big Data and enable advanced data analytics to help make decisions in areas such as potential cost savings, improved efficiency and new business opportunities.

To bring this project to life Maxis, as Vodafone’s preferred IoT partner in Malaysia, will be leveraging on its existing collaboration with the company by having access to its global experience in NB-IoT deployment across multiple countries.

Vodafone can offer its customers and partners access to the world’s biggest, international, NB-IoT network and Maxis will be able to take full advantage of it.

Vodafone will also support Maxis in developing their NB-IoT ecosystem through the sharing of knowledge and access to the technology. Using Vodafone’s platform, Maxis will be able to deliver a market-proven technology for businesses in Malaysia looking to implement NB-IoT services in their operations.

“There is an immense amount of opportunities for NB-IoT especially around big data analytics and in enabling real life use cases. The launch will encourage the development of an ecosystem of partners, developers and customers that will offer even more opportunities for enterprises, to better manage and optimise their assets, their environment, their energy usage and the safety of their people, and to unlock the potential for the delivery of new services in the Malaysian market. This is a significant step for us as it sets the standards in the deployment of IoT solutions,” said Maxis head of Enterprise Paul McManus.

Maxis NB-IoT is currently being piloted in several industries for multiple industry leading use cases that will enable improved efficiency and possible new business models. These include smart metering and environmental monitoring. There are also solutions in Maxis IoT Innovation Lab that include smart lighting, parking monitoring, smoke alarms and more.

They have the potential to open up new possibilities for key stakeholders such as government, state councils and Malaysian businesses in the areas of agriculture, utilities and Smart Cities, to name a few. Maxis is ready to work with customers to understand pain points and work together to improve business efficiencies and solve problems through NB-IoT solutions.

To accelerate adoption, Maxis set up its IoT Innovation Lab in 2018 to act as a bridge between Maxis’ Enterprise customers and device manufacturers as well as solutions providers. Here, a free testing facility helps Enterprise solutions providers to go to market quicker and for customers to validate their solutions before deployment in the field.

Maxis will also assist in the acceleration of NB-IoT adoption through device and solution certification. The lab is used as an experiential showcase for Enterprise customers to see demonstrations of fully tested NB-IoT solutions.