The two companies are now expanding the NB-IoT ecosystem by bringing in new partners and markets for Smart Parking, after succeeding in Smart Metering pilot in Spain.

[Madrid, Spain, June 7, 2016] Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, and Vodafone Group have successfully completed the first trial on commercial networks for pre-standard NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) Smart Parking in Spain. This marks a significant milestone in the NB-IoT collaboration between the two companies, which have recently launched the world’s first strategic NB-IoT Open Lab to promote the development of the NB-IoT ecosystem and innovative solutions for the market. Following the Smart Metering trial in Spain last November, the partners are now rolling out the second pre-commercial NB-IoT trial on Smart Parking.

In collaboration with Fangle and Ublox, the trial took place in Vodafone Plaza in Madrid and covered various indoor parking spots. Smart Parking will allow users to access parking data remotely, from mobile application, including checking parking spot availability, navigating to the available spots, etc. In addition, the solution will create new revenue streams for municipal management, lower public parking running costs, as well as helping to alleviate traffic congestion. The trial will be turned into a live demonstration set inside the Business Exhibition Centre at Vodafone Plaza in Madrid for showcasing the solution to Vodafone’s customers and visitors.

Luke Ibbetson, Director of Research & Development, Vodafone Group, said:

“We’ve been rigorously testing NB-IoT and we’re thrilled with the results. During trial deployments in Spain and Turkey, the technology has demonstrated some outstanding attributes, which make it ideal for connecting a large number of objects to networks for the first time. We look forward to working with the industry to help developers and engineers bring a new wave of useful applications and services to market based on NB-IoT technology.”

David Wang, President of Wireless Product Line at Huawei said:

“With the NB-IoT Open Lab in the UK established, Huawei is committed to working closely with Vodafone to expand the NB-IoT ecosystem and develop more innovative solutions, such as Smart Metering and now Smart Parking, to fully support the industry and partners to embrace the opportunities NB-IoT will bring.”

Having jointly developed the NB-IoT technology and driven the ecosystem establishment, Huawei and Vodafone are working closely to achieve the standardization in June as well as the pre-commercial phase by the end of the year. Another smart parking live trial in collaboration with Isbak (Istanbul Transportation Telecommunication and Security Technologies Industry And Trade Inc.) is scheduled to take place in Turkey in early June. NB-IoT Smart Parking will be commercially launched by early 2017.