Telefonica’s Spanish IoT market grows, invests in Nozomi for security

On Monday, Telefonica announced that the first quarter of 2020 has seen its IoT connections increase to over 2.6 million, a year-on-year growth of 12.4%. 

 

Telefonica offers both NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) and LTE-M (Long Term Evolution for Machines) solutions to its customers, with the former more suitable for widespread deployments, such as IoT sensors, and the latter better suited to solutions which require mobility. 

 

Telefonica-owned Movistar+ has also seen a growth in IoT deployment, claiming 100% coverage in hubs including Madrid and Valencia.

 

Especially with the advent of 5G, the growth of the IoT market is expected to skyrocket, with analysts predicting the number of connected devices to reach around 43 billion by 2023. Fortune Business Insights expects the IoT market to be worth over $1 trillion by 2026.

 

However, with this rapid growth comes a great increase in security risk. Enormous interconnected device ecosystems offer a myriad of entry points for security attacks, hence requiring new security strategies that make use of the latest technology, such as AI.

 

This is why, alongside its own strong growth in the IoT sphere, Telefonica has invested in Nozomi Networks, a specialist in operational technology and IoT security. 

 

“With this investment in Nozomi Networks we are reinforcing Telefónica’s commitment to cybersecurity in industrial environments and critical assets exposed to constant and ever-changing threats,” said Guenia Gawendo, director of Telefonica Innovation Ventures. “Monitoring and threat detection systems are highly important in helping to minimize these risks and in this field the artificial intelligence-based technology developed by Nozomi Networks is essential for our industrial customers.”

 

The extent of the investment into Nozomi has yet to be revealed.

 

“Telefónica fully understands that it’s no longer enough simply to protect IT networks. It’s also essential to invest in detecting, monitoring and mitigating OT and IoT-related risks,” said Edgard Capdevielle, CEO of Nozomi.