Dark Fibre Africa’s SqwidNet business has signed a partnership deal with Internet of things (IoT) specialist SMME IoT with the aim of connecting a million devices in South Africa in a three- to five-year period.

SMME IoT, in alliance with device maker Visiosoft, has installed 2 500 water meter reader units across the country.

“The analytics platform connected to these devices receives the consumption data every 30 minutes. These are active sites that send data from the devices into a cloud platform,” SqwidNet said in a statement.

“This data is then used to understand the consumption patterns of the area resulting in responsible usage of water in various suburbs and communities.”

SMME IoT operates in the financial, human resource management and technology sectors. The company works with Allied High, a global IoT provider that works closely with several Sigfox operators around the world.

SqwidNet, which was launched in November 2006, has deployed a national IoT network using Sigfox’s technology.