Telenor's - Ericsson

The Internet of Things has offi cially been dubbed one of
China’s strategic emerging industries. Talking to analyst
Flora Wu and engineer Yu Xiaohui, it’s clear that
China sees an open fi eld of opportunity in the machineto-machine
market and will not be content to follow
international trends. China will do it its own way.
The Chinese take on
connected
machines
TEXT David Callahan
FLORA WU:
“Operators see a deep ocean of opportunities”
IN AUGUST 2009 Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao
visited the city of Wuxi near Shanghai and suggested
creating a center for the development
of Chinese sensor technology there. Since then,
the Internet of Things has been singled out as
one of China’s seven strategic emerging industries,
along with what the government calls
“energy-saving and environmental protection,
biology, high-end equipment, new energy, new
material and alternative energy vehicles.”
Flora Wu, principal analyst with bda, an independent,
Beijing-based consulting firm that advises
private equity firms on China’s telecommunications,
media and technology sectors, suggests
that one underlying motive for this specific toplevel
push is China’s desire to take the lead in
standardization in general.
china set to lead «« connecting machines «« THEME
“There are several technologies competing.
However, there is no standard yet,” Wu says.
That is one reason the Chinese government is
ambitious about the Internet of Things.” She
adds that development around the Internet
of Things gives China the chance to
develop a global standard. China has
rolled out its own 3g technology and
now the government and operators
are starting to invest in lte, 4g and the
post-4g technologies.
“The Internet of Things is a new
arena where it’s possible for China to
lead innovation,” she says.
In general China backs home-grown
standards, such as td-scdma (the Chinese
3g standard), to prevent foreign-based
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