WCA September 2017

From the Americas

commitment towards the adoption of next generation smart city technologies. The SGC programme brings together municipalities, network carriers, corporate partners, non-profit organisations and university research communities, to develop smart gigabit applications that address local community needs, be they in education, workforce development, public safety, community health, smart energy or transportation. The announcement focused on various initiatives taking place in the cities. Current smart city projects in Washington DC include smart waste management, movement analytics and water quality sensing, while Jackson has partnered with Jackson Energy Authority to align the city’s gigabit infrastructure as a tool, test bed and accelerator for economic, educational and community benefit. In Albuquerque, the initial phase of a project to install LED lighting around the city includes plans for sensors and cameras in key places for monitoring and data collection, while Phoenix is able to provide the best tools to the area’s entrepreneurs to help them build their companies and create real solutions for residents and businesses. San Diego, the newest participant in the programme, will advance innovation, technology and entrepreneurship in the city and promote further collaboration among local government, community leaders and corporate partners. Every year, the newly announced SGC communities will develop two gigabit applications or gigabit services to provide advanced technology solutions to issues faced by that community, as well as sharing those applications with other SGCs. US Ignite is a non-profit organisation, helping to accelerate new wired and wireless networking advances from research to prototype, through to full-scale smart community and interconnected national deployments. Factory activity near three-year high Despite construction spending remaining steady, USA factory activity rose sharply in June to its highest level in almost three years, raising hopes of economic growth in the second quarter. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity rose to a reading of 57.8 in June, its best performance since August 2014, from 54.9 in May. A reading above 50 in the ISM index indicates an expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for roughly 12 per cent of the overall USA economy. “The ISM index provides further evidence that the prospects for the manufacturing sector remain bright,” said Andrew Hunter, an economist at Capital Economics . The index reading is another encouraging sign that the USA economy rebounded strongly in the April-June quarter. Following the data, the Atlanta Federal Reserve raised its forecast for second-quarter GDP to a three per cent annualised rate from its previous forecast of 2.7 per cent. The Commerce Department reports that the US economy grew at a 1.4 per cent annual rate in the first quarter, better than had been previously estimated. The ISM survey’s new orders sub-index rose to 63.5 in June from 59.5 in May, while a measure of factory employment increased to a reading of 57.2 from 53.5. According to ISM, comments from those surveyed generally reflected expanding conditions, “with new orders, production, employment, backlog and exports all growing

the company understands that the ecosystem is yet to evolve to ensure safe transactions. Eva Chen, founder and CEO, Trend Micro, said: “We have a 29-year history of successfully anticipating technology trends to secure all types of environments. The first mega wave we caught was the growth of the PC marketplace; we committed early on to endpoint protection. The second mega wave was all about the Cloud; we made a bet early on to securing the Cloud and so far we have secured over two billion workload hours on Amazon Web Services (AWS) alone. “Now we believe the next wave has arrived with IoT; our fund will help us harness this opportunity.” Who starts with what? Countries are currently agonising over which IoT technology should be utilised first: CAT-M1 offers a quicker time-to-market, but CAT-NB1 is said to be simpler, and more cost efficient. IoT Tech News reviewed the decisions so far. Within the US, Verizon and AT&T are offering services on their individual CAT-M1 networks, the logic being that M1 can be implemented through a relatively straightforward software update to the existing radio infrastructure, while NB1 will require new hardware. With existing CAT-1 base stations upgraded to support M1, providers can now offer more competitive solutions in terms of service cost, compared to the previous M2M technologies. Given that M1 networks are already in operation, network providers and device manufacturers can refit base stations for an eventual NB1 rollout almost at their leisure. In Europe, having initially indicated they would begin with the simpler and, eventually, lower-cost NB1 networks, they are now opting for the lower initial investment required for an upgrade to M1. This is due to the availability of an M1 eco-system driven by the initial USA deployment. With the initial USA deployment in place, an M1 ecosystem has been created that can be easily applied to Europe, with devices, chipsets and certification processes already available. In February 2017, Orange Europe announced pilot schemes and deployment of M1, with NB1 to be added at some point in the future. Asia continues to be divided over the M1/NB1 issue. Much like their European counterparts, Japanese operators have opted to start with M1, motivated by the existence of an M1 ecosystem. China, on the other hand, has chosen NB1, driven predominantly by Huawei as the only current vendor with a commercial narrowband offering. In South Korea this division is even more evident, with at least one carrier ready to roll out M1 offerings this year, but with others waiting for NB1. Some countries will have M1 coverage, some will have NB1 coverage, and some will have both, leaving industry with a situation where devices that target global applications, such as pallet tracking and cold chain management, will need dual-mode operation as a key requirement. Elsewhere in USA industry Communities get smart: US Ignite has announced the latest cities to join the Smart Gigabit Communities (SGC) programme. Washington DC, Phoenix, San Diego, Albuquerque and Jackson (Tennessee) have all made a

101

www.read-wca.com

Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2017