KPN and China Unicom sign reciprocal IoT network deal

Dutch telco KPN has cosied up to China Unicom to improve its access to the Chinese IoT market and will return the favour in Europe.

The two companies will offer reciprocal access to each other’s IoT networks, making use of remotely provisionable SIMs in IoT devices that allow switching to the cheaper network depending on where the device happens to find itself. Europe, of course, has gotten rid of roaming premiums so KPN’s domestic tariffs apply across the continent.

“This agreement will enable our customers to become global IoT players, since we are able to handle international requests quickly and easily,” said Carolien Nijhuis, Managing Director of KPN IoT. “We are constantly looking for strong partnerships and have found a trusted partner in China Unicom.”

“It’s really an exciting moment that China Unicom will be able to provide a global IoT solution partnering with KPN,” said Li Chong (Chairman, China Unicom Global Ltd) and Chen Xiaotian (General Manager, China Unicom IoT Business Unit), apparently in unison. “With this solution we are offering ‘one SIM, one portal, one experience’ to our customers. The partnership between China Unicom and KPN will enable Chinese and European enterprise customers to bridge the digital gap between global IoT deployments.”

The two operators will also offer a unified connectivity management portal, but how companies will track and manage their IoT devices when they’re not in either Europe or China remains a mystery. The trick is presumably to fly over Russia, India and the Middle East as quickly as possible and cross your fingers.