Introduction    

    - Industry leader in TV White Space and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing.

    - Jim Carlson President, CEO.

    - Deliver high-speed Internet and wireline-quality voice connectivity to rural communities and
      businesses with remote operations.

    - Similar to Wi-Fi, TV White Space is essentially a fixed broadband product that can cover longer 
      distances than Wi-Fi.

    - Currently, TV White Space is mostly considered for use with low power devices.

Company Background

    - Founded in 1999 by Jim Carlson.

    - Design and manufacture fixed-wireless products for terrain based communications.

    - Specialties include TV White Space Technology, Microwave Backhaul, Rural Broadband, and 
      Dynamic Spectrum Sharing.

    - Located at 2700 Foster Avenue Arcata, CA 95521.

What is TV White Space Technology?

An affordable alternative to fiber, microwave, mobile and satellite technologies.

    - Needs minimal infrastructure to extend broadband coverage.

    - Can reach users in remote locations.

    - Lower frequencies perform well even if obstructed.

    - Increase in coverage, which allows for fewer access points for more users.

    - System does not require fiber.

Market Opportunities

• White space hotspot.
• WISP and rural broadband.
• Public safety.
• Industrial: oil and gas.
• Utilities: energy and power.
• IoT & M2M – great coverage with minimal infrastructure and new, clean spectrum.
• Smart cities.

Strategic Considerations

    - Approximately 60% of world and 6m US households do not have internet.

    - Typically, individuals that do not have internet either can’t afford it or due to geographic location.

    - 3^rd generation rural connect radio can cover 100x the area of traditional Wi-Fi without
      diminishing strength (caused by walls or trees typically) - “super Wi-Fi” is another name for it.

    - A downside to TV White Space Technology is that many unregulated wireless
      devices that use this technology could end up interferring with one another or with licensed users.

    - A challenge with this technology is developing the technology to the point that
       it is able to locate any available airwaves while simultaneously avoiding any possible interference with other devices.

Introduction    

SIGFOX is a private, innovative company that provides global cellular connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT).  The company is positioning itself to become an industry leader by offering its customers low prices and low energy consumption for connected devices.  SIGFOX’s network is scalable and is built for large volumes of devices.  The company builds wireless networks that are used to connect objects, which assists in forming the structure that is necessary for the Internet of Things to continue its growth.    

Company Background

SIGFOX‘s Founder and CEO is Ludovic Le Moan.  The company’s headquarters is located at 425, rue Jean Rostand 31670 Labège France.  Along with its headquarters, SIGFOX has other locations, consisting of Paris, Madrid, and San Francisco.  Currently, the company does not have a huge presence throughout the world besides France, Spain, the Netherlands, and part of the United Kingdom.  However, many investors have shown interest in the firm by investing approximately $34 million in a previous round of funding.  Recently, SIGFOX was able to raise approximately $115 million from several large investors.  The company plans to use the funds to begin expansion into areas such as the United States, Latin America, as well as Japan and South Korea.  A few of the big name investors involved in the funding were Telefonica, NTT Docomo and SK Telecom.  The investments by well-known companies shows how much confidence there is in SIGFOX’s technology.  The company mainly provides low-cost and low-energy wireless networks that focus on connected devices like smart watches, meters, washing machines, etc.  SIGFOX places emphasis on these type of devices, due to the fact that small amounts of data are emitted at a time and the devices need to be on constantly.  Over the last two to three years, SIGFOX has partnered with several big name companies and organizations in the industry such as ThingWorx, Arqiva Partners, and PLAT.ONE.  SIGFOX has also partnered with other companies across a variety of industries, which is aiding its strategy to provide connected devices in many industries around the world.  A few of these other companies consist of Hydroko, Fastprk, and Z#bre.  Hydroko has a remote-control valve to monitor fluid flow and with the help of SIGFOX, this device will allow central controllers to send a signal to either open or shut the valve.  Fastprk has a magnetic parking lot sensor, which uses SIGFOX’s network in order to report whether or not parking spots are currently empty or occupied.  Z#bre has a medical monitor device called “Z#Link” that monitors medical patients. 

Strategic Considerations

SIGFOX plans to rollout this low-throughput technology in approximately 60 countries within the next five years.  There are approximately 11 industries that the company hopes to address as growth for the Internet of Things continues.  The industries that SIGFOX currently is placing emphasis on range from Agriculture and Environment to Utilities.  SIGFOX believes that the Smart City and Public Transport industry will be the sector that sees the largest growth by 2022.  There are several positives that come along with the technology that SIGFOX is employing.  SIGFOX’s network can co-exist with the frequencies of other radio technologies.  The network allows SIGFOX to ensure customers of secure communication through message scrambling, anti-replay, sequencing, etc.  Also, the network operates in ISM bands, which are license-free frequency bands that are available globally.  The patented radio technology that SIGFOX uses is known as Ultra Narrow-Band Technology.

Benefits of Ultra-Narrow Band Technology

There are many benefits of Ultra-Narrow Band Technology in regards to its usage for M2M and IoT.  First off, the technology is scalable, comes at a low cost, and has low energy consumption.  The technology is also easy to rollout, provides long range, and often allows flexibility with the design of antennas.  Another benefit of this technology is that it is compatible with existing transceivers. 

GSM/Cellular vs. SIGFOX

There are many differences between traditional GSM/Cellular and SIGFOX, most of which are either cost or energy-related.  One major difference between the two is that the average power consumption for an energy meter through SIGFOX is approximately 50 microwatts, whereas it is 5,000 microwatts through GSM/Cellular.  Another major difference is that the typical stand-by time for a 20.5 ampere-hour (AH) battery is approximately 0 to 2 years for GSM/Cellular versus 20 years for SIGFOX.  By using SIGFOX, there are less antennas that need to be involved compared to GSM/Cellular.  In order to fully put SIGFOX’s significance into perspective, there are three major points that help its cause.  SIGFOX’s network requires 2,000 to 5,000 times less power consumption for a simple data transfer versus traditional cellular networks.  Also, if cellular networks wanted to have the same communication range that SIGFOX’s network offers, it would traditionally require 10,000 times more power.  Another positive that is often considered a cause for concern, is that SIGFOX’s network has 2,000 to 5,000 times lower electromagnetic radiation than traditional cellular networks.