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"We launched the first IoT network NORAnet at the beginning of October," board member of Levikom Eesti Peep Poldsamm told. A large number of service providers interested in using the network approached the company immediately after the presentation, he added.

The feedback was massive and partly because of that the company started to explore the possibility of switching to second-generation equipment, Poldsamm said. The aim of the company was to develop an open value chain IoT network. It then turned out it would be the first of its kind in the world, he observed.

There are many such networks belonging to one telecommunications company. An open value chain model means that Levikom will not provide itself all possible IoT services but will focus on providing wholesale connectivity, Poldsamm explained.

Levikom plans to launch the second-generation network in April. The technical solution was developed in partnership with the IoT solution provider Actility and technology company Semtech.

According to Poldsamm, the network will initially comprise about 200 base stations but the company is ready to expand it in the case of great interest and dense traffic.

The company will itself bring to the market a package targeting households which includes super fast wireless internet and digital television in addition to the IoT solution. Among the IoT solutions will be temperature and humidity sensor, movement and smoke detection sensor services.

The focus of the new technology will be considerably wider as Levikom will partner with utility companies to offer smart metering and smart energy solutions.

According to Poldsamm, Levikom is also preparing a project with a large forest owner of Swedish origin that wishes to use sensor-based IoT applications to deal with with timber thefts and forest fires.

Asked about the cost of network upgrades, Poldsamm said it's difficult to offer an estimate specifically for lifting NORAnet to the second-generation level as Levikom has grown very strategically – the company was entered in the commercial register two years ago but it has grown through mergers and takeovers, and some of those companies were very old.

"We are a new old company," said Poldsamm who established Levikom together with Toomas Peek. Both entrepreneurs played a big part in building up Tele 2 and have been active in the telecoms sector for a long time. In developing Levikom they focused on the acquisition of radio networks and smaller IT infrastructure companies. This strategy enabled Levikom to save strongly on direct investment, Poldsamm said. The company's investment in developing the IoT network after the introduction of second-generation equipment amounts to millions of euros.