Ground Control launches its new Iridium Certus enabled M2M connectivity device, the RockREMOTE, as the alternative solution to Fibre and Cellular – ready for when the sun sets on PSTN.
The traditional PSTN (Phone Switching Telephone Network) is being switched off. By 2025, the sun will set on PSTN connectivity and presently, only Fibre and Cellular solutions exist as replacement solutions. RockREMOTE is a brand new, Iridium enabled M2M connectivity device from Ground Control (previously Rock Seven) that’s ideal for remote sites including water, electricity and gas businesses throughout the UK.
Utility (Water, Electricity, Gas) businesses are particularly exposed to the PSTN switch off with over two hundred thousand sites needing to move from PSTN to IP based services within the next four years. But, the standard for an effective replacement solution is high – PSTN is surprisingly secure and highly reliable with astounding availability at over 99.992% annually over the last 10 years. In addition, some sites just aren’t compatible with IP and will use serial comms.
Ric Searle, Chief Technology Officer says ‘We know that Fibre, and Cellular will likely be the primary choice in most sites, but there is a gap for a satellite solution. We estimate that 5% of sites will need to rely on satellite connectivity – so approximately 10,000 sites will need our reliable and secure satellite-based solution. RockREMOTE is a result of years of research focussed on customer needs to proactively provide a reliable, highly secure and easy to deploy solution to the market’.
RockREMOTE is the optimum device for industrial IoT deployments due to the resilient, Iridium Certus satellite service or the integrated LTE cellular connectivity; allowing the user to determine the primary and the failover. This ensures robust and reliable communication regardless of location or environment – literally. RockREMOTE can even function seamlessly where solar is the only power option. With RS232 and RS485 built-in supporting serial to IP migration for telemetry devices, RockREMOTE has a full Linux OS, and storage allowing edge computing-based processing.
Established in 2000, the Ground Control brand unites Ground Control, Wireless Innovation and Rock Seven under a new, singular brand. This encapsulates the company’s technological specialisms and expertise – appealing to utilities, renewables, maritime and agriculture customers in multiple markets. With best-in-class solutions including RockAIR, RockSTAR and Toughsat; Ground Control offers their customers unrivalled technology, satellite and IoT services across multiple industries and applications.
