NNNco reaches out to 30km range with LoRa network

NNNCa National Narrowband Network Co logo

The Actility Newsroom

NNNco reaches out to 30km range with LoRa network

Actility partner pushing the capabilities of LoRa to the max

Actility would like to congratulate our partner NNNCo in quite literally “going the extra mile” with LoRa. 30km range clearly demonstrates the promise of LoRA to cover a huge footprint with a low cost and easy to roll out network. And with their innovative multicast solution on trial in built up areas we’re pleased to be supporting NNNCo in their quest to create new possibilities with LoRa, and great new services for their customers.

Actility ready to offer Universal Smart Energy Framework (USEF) compliance

Old Actility USEF and DNV-GL logos

The Actility Newsroom

Actility ready to offer Universal Smart Energy Framework (USEF) compliance

Actility, innovator in smart grid applications such as demand response, is the first company to be declared compliant with the majority of requirements of USEF.

USEF is an open standard intended to accelerate an integrated smart energy future that is efficient, sustainable, and cost effective. The audit of Actility’s services was carried out by DNV GL, founding partner of the USEF Foundation. DNV GL found that Actility was compliant with the requirements relevant for existing flexibility products, and was sufficiently agile to be able to address requirements on future flexibility products.  As Actility’s products are now proven to be fit for the emerging smart grids ecosystem, the company is ready to create significant value for all stakeholders in the flexibility market

“We see USEF as a great next step to further unlock the value of flexibility at our current and upcoming smart energy customers and projects,” comments Actility CTO Olivier Hersent. “The use of the standardized and harmonized processes drives open innovation, lowers entry barriers for other partners and directly supports us in our large scale roll out of flexibility services throughout Europe. We’re happy to learn that our current processes resemble the USEF methodology so closely, showing we are a front runner in the market, and we’re looking forward to our first official fully USEF compliant project in the near future.“

The energy market is undergoing a massive transformation as new ways to manage and store energy, and increasing capacity in renewable resources comes on stream. This creates a third dimension in the market, beyond energy supply and demand: flexibility. Instead of generating more power in response to peaks in demand, a smart grid can actively manage energy usage instead, time-shifting non-critical energy use. Actility, as an aggregator offering a demand-response service to national grid providers, is a pioneer of flexibility, and is fully aligned with the USEF Foundation’s goals to deliver the foundations of one integrated system which benefits all players – new and traditional energy companies and consumers.

Hans de Heer, Principal Consultant at DNV GL, says: “We are very pleased that Actility is the first company to be assessed on USEF compliancy. This gives Actility not only new possibilities in the energy market but also proves the worth of the Universal Smart Energy Framework. We foresee that market entry barriers will be significantly reduced if the flexibility markets and processes are organized throughout Europe in a harmonized and standardized way. Adopting the USEF framework will improve the quality of the market processes, ensuring flexibility can be unlocked in a reliable and efficient way.”

The Universal Smart Energy Framework is an open standard which clearly defines different roles in the energy ecosystem, the processes and interactions between them, and the business and contractual agreements for those interactions. Specifically, USEF identifies three possible customers of flexibility: the Transmission System Operator (TSO), the Balance Responsible Party (BRP) and the Distribution Sytem Operator (DSO). 

USEF is paving the way for a Distribution Network Operator (DNO) to develop into a system operator, actively managing its network by utilizing flexibility for congestion management and voltage control purposes. Actility was audited at the request of a leading DNO which expects its partners and suppliers to be USEF compliant in the future. Passing such a test gives competitor advantage;  in this market, and beyond, the audit also put the USEF Framework and review process through its first real test case.

Hans de Heer as well as other DNV GL and Actility experts will be available at the European Utility Week 2016 (DNV GL booth #3D131) to answer your questions in Barcelona, Spain November 15 to 17.

First sale transacted through Actility’s ThingPark Market ushers in a new era in IoT ecommerce

The Actility Newsroom

First sale transacted through Actility’s ThingPark Market ushers in a new era
in IoT ecommerce

ThingPark Market is a web based e-commerce platform through which partners in the ThingPark ecosystem can promote and sell their interoperable IoT devices and developer kits to buyers looking for LoRa IoT solutions.

Actility, the industry leader in low power wide area networking, and the innovator behind the ThingPark LPWA IoT platform, has officially opened ThingPark Market to buyers in Europe and within hours the first sales were concluded, clearly illustrating the demand for international commerce in the fast growing IoT business. The Market has been open for worldwide seller registration since the end of October.

“This is a unique opportunity for ThingPark partners to market and sell their products,“ says Actility Senior Vice President for Marketing & Digital, Christophe Francois. “The goal of ThingPark Market is to accelerate global market adoption of LoRaWAN and LPWA devices and make it straightforward to put together complete IoT solutions backed by the ThingPark Approved label. ThingPark Market provides global exposure for sellers and immediate availability for buyers.”

ThingPark Market meets a clear business need in the IoT ecosystem. Sellers of devices and applications can shorten their sales cycle, promote and manage their products and services, and have easy access to new sales channels. For buyers, the advantages include simplifying their procurement process through the e-commerce engine, and easy discovery of trusted products and applications thanks to the ThingPark Approved program. ThingPark Market, will also be offered as an operator-branded package alongside the ThingPark platform, providing a rich product catalogue to operator’ customers whilst promoting their brand, connectivity and IoT services. An operator branded Market will enhance their IoT solution portfolio and increase IoT revenue while reduce operational costs.

“Adeunis RF has been a partner of Actility from the very beginning, and we’re proud of that,” says Frank Fisher, Deputy CEO, Adeunis RF. ”We’re very pleased to be continuing this relationship on the ThingPark Market. Adeunis RF was among the very first to put its products online with Actility, and it makes us very proud to make the first ThingPark Market sale in Europe. This new Market is clear and attractive for buyers and sellers, so it has a bright future ahead.”

Demonstrating the growing maturity and traction of the ThingPark ecosystem, the Partner program now offers new benefits to developers and device makers. ThingPark Explorers can trial the ThingPark development platform free of charge, connecting a gateway and up to five devices to the ThingPark platform. Developers can also access DX (Developer experience) APIs in an easy to use and customizable Swagger interface to use in their IoT application code. Users are able to self-provision and monitor their connected devices in an interactive dashboard.

“With ThingPark Market offering a global ecommerce route to market, and the on-ramp for developers to trial ThingPark and become partners now so easy and so accessible, ThingPark’s position as a business enabler at the heart of the LoRaWAN ecosystem has never been stronger,” concludes Olivier Hersent, founder and CTO of Actility.

Visit ThingPark Market

What is LoRa and LoRaWAN white paper techniical overview, benfits and use cases

Learn more about the LoRaWAN technology by downloading the Actility “What is LoRaWAN” white paper