SG Bike To Explore Narrowband IoT with M1

SG Bike, a Singapore-based bike-sharing company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the telecommunications company M1  to explore the use of Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) in the bike-sharing business. They will collaborate on NB-IoT applications to help resolve problems with the indiscriminate parking of shared vehicles. It’s expected that the use of this technology will benefit the company in savings of time and money. It is also intended to benefit the user, as real-time accurate inventory data means no lost time on the part of the consumer. Potentially, the RFID technology could be used  with other sharing devices, such as umbrellas and scooters

The companies plan to study the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for more accurate geolocation services, in order to confirm whether or not a bike has been returned to the appropriate parking site. Currently, most bike-sharing firms use GPS trackers which are useful, but cannot accurately determine exact physical location.

“We are thrilled to work with SG Bike to enable Singapore to truly benefit from the bike-sharing scheme, in an effort to accelerate our journey into a ‘car-lite’ society,” said Mr Alex Tan, chief innovation officer, M1. “As a leading IoT service provider, we look forward to support SG Bike with the implementation of an efficient IoT solution nationwide to enhance the aesthetics of the city, as well as the safety and well-being of our communities.”

SG Bike CEO Albert Teng said, “We currently have over 1,300 geostations installed nationwide, and we are excited to see how this partnership can further improve our technology to help bike sharing become a success in Singapore.”