Press Releases

• Safety in mobility and Localisation are the first areas addressed by this new category of products
• The current offer will be added to by the end of the year, to include Smart Home solutions

Vodafone Portugal today announced V by Vodafone, a new category of IoT products that have the main goal of transforming the lives of the Portuguese, making their everyday life more intelligent and simpler. Vodafone thus becomes the first Operator in Portugal to provide a range of IoT technology solutions for the end consumer.

Through V by Vodafone the ‘world of things’ will be converted into intelligent and connected items, managed through a single App from which customers can control all their IoT devices. In this phase, Vodafone is focusing on Safety in mobility and Localisation, and has unveiled four products.

V-Auto: This device was designed by Vodafone Automotive, in Italy, and is connected to the car’s OBD socket (a standardised socket which is in all cars sold in the European Union from 2003 onwards). Once installed, V-Auto is powered by the car battery and is always linked to Vodafone’s mobile network, adding the following functionalities:

• Auto SOS: in the event of an accident, the driver is immediately contacted by the assistance services. If the phone is not answered, the closest emergency services are deployed, and support is sent to the accident location. The Auto SOS function was designed in response to the safety regulation imposed by the European Union for new cars sold from 2018 onwards, to guarantee this simple and economic system is available for millions of older vehicles that do not have this technology installed.
• Find my car: allows car owners to locate their vehicle immediately using the V-Auto app on their smartphone.
• Safety score: awards the driver a score depending on their driving. Ideal to help new drivers or less experienced drivers improve their driving.

V-Cam: HD camera that functions while you are on the move by automatically connecting to the Vodafone IoT network. It has automatic movement detectors and night vision, as well as being able to save the videos it records on the cloud. Its battery lasts approximately one month and is ideal to monitor holiday homes.

V-Pet: Device that allows you to locate dogs and/or cats through a combination of GPS and the mobile network. Smartphone alarms can be received when the pet goes outside a defined safety zone. Furthermore, the pet’s activities can be monitored, registering how many minutes per day it spends sleeping, running and even playing.

V-Bag: Device with a GPS locator for any kind of bag, such as a travel bag or backpack, helping to reduce the risk of theft or loss. Customers can set up a smartphone alarm to be notified if the bag leaves a designated area, or to find it if it has been lost.

Management of the V by Vodafone range using a single application

To back up the launch of this new range of products, tailored to meet the increasingly specific needs of the Customers, a SIM card called V-SIM has been developed specifically for the IoT equipment. As well as guaranteeing the connectivity of all the V by Vodafone range of products, it is also compatible with other devices that use the Internet of Things technology.

The V by Vodafone mobile APP was developed to manage V-SIM, making the process to subscribe for and manage all the devices with IoT connections more immediate and faster. As well as guaranteeing a single overview of all the products on a single digital platform, it simplifies the consumer’s life by making it possible to link any IoT device to your Vodafone account, meaning you do not have to subscribe to the respective service for each device used.

“The Internet of Things has transformed how companies operate. Now it’s the consumers’ turn to take advantage of this technology. V by Vodafone simplifies the use of a vast array of IoT devices, helping all Portuguese do everyday tasks in a more intelligent way,” says Emanuel Sousa, Private Business Division Director of Vodafone Portugal.

It is estimated that there will be more than 370 million IoT electronic devices in the areas where Vodafone operates by 2020 in the consumer segment alone. These devices can be linked to one another using the mobile network. Today there are around 50 million such devices.

“This exponential growth will lead to a drastic change in how people manage their everyday lives. Vodafone is the world leader in this technology in the business segment and now it will leverage its know-how to enable thousands of consumers to get the most out of the next global digital revolution,” adds Sousa.

The strategy underpinning the launch of V by Vodafone is a continuation of the work carried out by the business segment in the IoT area. The Vodafone Group is a world leader in the development and implementation of solutions using this technology, having now surpassed 60 million connections.

The current V by Vodafone products and services will be boosted with new products in the areas of Safety in mobility and Localisation by the end of the year. New fields of action will also be addressed, namely “smart home”, which will be launched at the same time.

Multimedia campaign starts today

‘Everything you want at your fingertips’ is the slogan of the campaign that today marks the launch of this new world of intelligent devices linked to the best network in Portugal.

At the origin of this campaign are the usual brand standard bearers – Ana Guiomar and Diogo Valsassina – who welcome new guests and have to deal with challenging and unexpected situations, namely the first love of their dog Bart. But there’s no need to fret as these situations are quickly solved with the help of the V by Vodafone range.

Two advertisements created by JWT, produced by Kripton, directed by Augusto Fraga and with media planning by WaveMaker, will take the campaign to television, digital media and radio.

The two campaign television adverts:

– Filme V-Pet

– Filme V-Bag

More information on the Vodafone Portugal site.