Spark New Zealand announced that it has commenced the development of a nationwide low power wide area (LPWA) network to enable the Internet of Things (IoT). "At Spark our Ventures team has been working on the exciting possibilities of the internet of things and what it could mean for New Zealand," said Spark’s GM for IoT, Michael Stribling.

At Mobile World Congress Americas, US telecom provider Sprint and Ericsson unveiled the results of the first US 2.5GHz Massive MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) field tests conducted in Seattle, Washington and Plano, Texas using Sprint's spectrum and Ericsson's 64T64R (64 transmit, 64 receive) radios.

Dr. Tarig Enaya, Senior Vice President of the STC Enterprise Business Unit has revealed that smart cities-associated technology investments that will take place in the next four years worldwide will reach USD 158 billion by 2022 in accordance with the IDC Report. The figure is expected to reach USD 2.7 billion (SAR 10.125 billion) in the Middle East and Africa.

Internet of Things investment will support Lebanon's IT market growing to LBP 820 billion by 2019, and will transform daily lives and businesses, industry experts announced during the recent SmartEx Lebanon exhibition.

Swedish network provider Blink Services, which provides LoRaWAN for 'smart city' solutions has announced that it has selected its partner for its nationwide Internet of Things program. Multi-Tech Systems has been chosen by the Swedish firm after an intensive vetting process. It has been reported that Multi-Tech's close working relationship and shared partnership with French LPWAN organization Actility played a significant role in the company earning the contract.

WISeKey, a digital information security, authentication and identity management company based in Switzerland has announced that its Internet of Things blockchain technology is set to be deployed in a number of selected 'smart cities' in China.

Qualcomm has released additional findings of a landmark study, The 5G Economy. The new research, conducted by leading industry and economic analysis firm IHS Markit, examines the potential economic impact of 5G for the Taiwan market.

Parking management technology developer 'Smart Parking' has officially deployed its Internet of Things-based parking solution in the Australian city of Casey. The cutting-edge solution specifically designed to transform your parking experience consists of 904 'Smart Parking vehicle detection sensors which are used in order to monitor space availability and mobility bays.

Spanish telecom giant Telefónica and Huawei have announced the opening of an Open IoT Lab to work on the development of products and applications related to Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology.

Norway-based Telenor Group and Wireless Trondheim are joining forces to open a new IoT powerhouse to boost innovation, build competencies and promote Norwegian competitiveness. The IoT ProtoLab will be open to start-ups, developers and students looking to rapidly prototype and develop IoT products and services.

The UK government has announced that it is set to invest £150 million in digital infrastructure and open data in its efforts to make Scotland's biggest city, Glasgow, a world-leading 'smart city'. Glasgow has already received £24 million since 2013 which has been circulated through the Innovate UK innovation agency. The investment has served to not only enhance connectivity in the city, but it has also helped Glasgow develop technologies of the future that will be cost effective and energy efficient.

Cambridge University has announced it has agreed to partner with Nanjing Municipal Government to create a smart cities research center which will be located in China. The collaboration will see both bodies examining how emerging technologies can support a modern 21st century city that has an integrated ecosystem that consists of IT, healthcare and building management.

San Diego has accelerated its efforts to create the world's largest 'smart city' IoT sensor platform, by announcing that it has partnered with GE Current and Inseego Corp to deploy 3,200 new intelligent sensor nodes across the city.

The US city of Conway which is located in the state of Arkansas has formally announced it is set to introduce an Internet of Things platform in its efforts to become a leading 'smart city'.

The US city of Rancho Cucamonga, which is located on the outskirts of Los Angeles, has formally announced that it has selected leading Internet of Things technology provider Echelon Corporation to overhaul its existing streetlight network infrastructure.

A US city has announced that it will introduce 'smart city' technology in a bid to transform the safety of its road infrastructure. Officials in the City of Atlanta have confirmed that technology developed by US firm Applied Information (AI) will be deployed across the city in an effort to connect traffic signals, emergency vehicles and school zone safety flashers to the Internet of Things.

US telecommunications colossus T-Mobile has taken the decision to implement AI into its customer care system in a bid to resolve a number of issues it is currently having with its customer service. The new customer care tool deployed by the US operator has been specifically designed to speed resolution of complex problems by applying Artificial Intelligence.

US telecommunications incumbent AT&T has announced that it is collaborating with the City of San Jose in a public-private partnership which aims to foster the creation of a smart city.

US software company Microsoft has formally announced that it will open a new Internet of Things (IoT) lab in Munich, Germany. Industrial companies in Europe are bolstering efforts to modernize production with sensors and software - and Microsoft has recognized a gap in the market to grab a portion of the spending.

US technology firm Net-Objex, an expert in Internet of Things and Blockchain has showcased a 'smart parking' payment solution described as a world first by using the IOTA decentralized network and cryptocurrency.