Aptilo debuts zero-touch connectivity for Wi-Fi IoT devices running on Amazon Web Services

Aptilo Networks announced on Wednesday launch of a zero-touch Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity solution to facilitate automatic and secure onboarding of Wi-Fi IoT devices running on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Aptilo is using Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and AWS IoT Core to bring an IoT connectivity solution for both enterprises and telecom operators to add to their existing offering. Aptilo makes use of Amazon EC2 for automation, scalability and high-availability and to help Wi-Fi IoT devices connect to AWS IoT Core for device management, analytics, security and application enablement.

Aptilo Networks is a vendor of carrier-class systems to manage data services with advanced functions for authentication, policy control and charging. Aptilo Service Management Platform (SMP) has become synonymous with Wi-Fi service management and Wi-Fi offload in large-scale deployments with 100+ operators in more than 75 countries, and is a critical component of Wi-Fi calling and IoT.

Typically, onboarding of Wi-Fi IoT devices is difficult. Existing Wi-Fi connectivity solutions require some kind of manual action when the device is switched on for the first time. This has been a hindrance when rolling out IoT services based on Wi-Fi connectivity. As a result, cellular connectivity is sometimes preferred over Wi-Fi in spite of being widely available at indoor locations.

“Customers are looking for a solution that can help them deliver IoT services effectively,” said Tim Mattison, Global Technology Lead, IoT Partners, Amazon Web Services. “With Aptilo’s IoT connectivity solution, Wi-Fi becomes scalable, seamless, and secure.”

“The only way for Wi-Fi to be used on a large scale for IoT is for onboarding to happen automatically, after powering up the device for the first time,” said Paul Mikkelsen, CEO, Aptilo Networks. “Aptilo offers an elegantly simple, secure solution that also allows control to stay with the enterprise IT department. AWS makes it easy for us to provide a scalable cloud service globally.”

Aptilo’s IoT solution, based on the Aptilo Service Management Platform (SMP), leverages Hotspot 2.0 and Passpoint, while also supporting legacy Wi-Fi equipment and devices.

Instead of requiring endless manual labor to onboard every device, Aptilo’s IoT solution uses device identities that already exist in AWS IoT Core. Through the integration with AWS IoT Core, Aptilo SMP can also verify if the device is active and collect input to form connectivity policies. The enterprise remains in control, but the service is seamless.

“As a long-time customer of Aptilo, we appreciate that they are adding more functionality to enable IoT services over Wi-Fi,” said Hanspeter Stofer, ICT Architect, Swisscom. “This is a game-changer for Wi-Fi IoT connectivity.”

 


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