New Wave, a company co-owned by ICT industry veteran Phumlani Moholi has been awarded a contract for smart power management by SqwidNet, an Internet of Things (IoT) network operator in South Africa.
Moholi’s company said this partnership will see New Wave undertaking to deploy and manage 1500 CabiSense devices in Sqwidnet’s network over a period of 3 years.
“CabiSense is a network and power infrastructure solution that we’ve created and manufactured locally. It is designed to enhance the monitoring and management of network elements remotely in a manner that’s geared towards improved cost-efficiency and increased network availability,” says Moholi, an Angel investor who is also co-founder of Rain.
“In my many years of experience in this industry, I have not seen the urgency and focus on platform and network availability by Network Operators, as I have since the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Remote working is now the new modus operandi for businesses across the spectrum and it’s in the best interest of all operators to ensure maximum uptime and minimum Mean Time to Restore (MTTR) when it comes to serving their customers.”
CabiSense is a Sigfox Ready solution meaning that network compliancy is guaranteed and it will fit in any existing network cabinet.
It notifies on the status of power from the local Utility, from the UPS, the main breaker and the cabinet breaker switches. It also detects motion for the monitoring of break-ins or vandalism and can monitor C02 levels and smoke.
CabiSense’s advanced capability even caters for remote re-activation of any part of the system making it a perfect fit for remote management of any curb-side or remote office deployment. It saves time and money by ensuring that operators dispatch the most appropriate skills and resources every time.
Phathizwe Malinga, managing director of SqwidNet, says: “We tested CabiSense on approximately 100 sites over a 6-month period to determine if it would work for us, and this has already resulted in a saving through the prevention of 31 unnecessary dispatches and a 50% reduction in Mean Time to Restore (MTTR) for these sites over the period.”
“I am delighted that our solution has and will continue to contribute positively to the experience that Sqwidnet offers to its customers,” says Moholi.
Beyond the obvious benefits for Telco networks, this IoT offering is also suitable for operators managing electricity distribution, road traffic signalling and even electronic billboards.
Moholi’s career spans more than 30 years in various senior positions in engineering and telecommunications. He has held the position Chief of IT and Telecoms Officer for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee.
Prior to that he was the Chief Technology Officer at MTN South Africa.
He is the co-founder of Rain, a mobile data network.
He holds a BSc. Eng (Electrical) from the University of Cape Town, a BEng (Hon)(Technology Management) from the University of Pretoria, a Grad Dip Engineering, University of the Wiwatersrand, has completed the Executive Development Programme, at Kellogg Management School, Northwestern University. He is a registered professional engineer.
