The Canadian telecom company, Telus Corp, has launched technologies that can connect and control machines via the internet. The company bids to increase sales from the “Internet of things”.
One of the services that the company will offer is retail traffic analysis, allowing stores to improve the way they stock their shelves. It is also launching a safety application so that restaurants can monitor conditions such as water flow and food temperature.
All these services are part of an increasing trend in which telecom companies add processors, sensors and Web connectivity to objects ranging from footballs to industrial machinery.
Shawn Sanderson, the head of Telus’s Internet of things campaign, said ahead of the launch:
“The driving force behind it is focusing less on the technology and more on making business easier and consumers’ lives better,”
According to Sanderson, the new services that will be offered at launch and will be expanded over the next couple of years.
The Vancouver based company will avoid big upfront capital spending by billing the offering as a monthly service.
Canadian big telecom companies have been seeking growth in other areas, as their phone, TV, and internet businesses are cooling.
Telus claims to be Canada’s number one provider of electronic medical records. This was a significant entry into health for the company and it said its move into the business of connecting machines to each other is another logical expansion.
Telus will use connected sensors in healthcare, retail, oil and gas, among other industries. It first used technology to use emergency responder dispatch systems about 15 years ago.
By 2018 Canadian spending on Internet-enabled services could be more than C$21 billion ($18.35 billion) a year, according to IDC Corp. This is up from C$5.6 billion in 2013.
Telus will work with Accenture Plc (ACN.N), IBM Corp (IBM.N), Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) and Intel Corp (INTC.O).
