• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, July 5, 2016

The Internet of Things is starting to reach certain scales around the world.

The wide-area deployments in some cases are a precursor of what’s coming.

Entire countries are creating IoT hubs of sorts so that many millions of smart devices can be connected and managed.

The mass deployments tend to be backed by major business powerhouses who stand to gain or lose a lot as the Internet of Things advances. Some are looking to create a framework for an IoT future in a market and others are looking to tap the innovators in any given market. For example:

• SK Telecom, the major mobile carrier in South Korea, this week launched a nationwide network just for Internet of Things services, offering high speed data for low monthly fees. This is one of the first times a country has established an IoT-exclusive nationwide network with a single control center, from which a wide range of connected things can be remotely controlled and managed.
• BMW and Intel are partnering to create an open platform for self-driving vehicles. The intent is to bring automated vehicles into production by 2021.
• Publicis Groupe, which recently signed a deal with Chinese Internet giant Tencent to create a social marketing lab, is investing in multiple IoT ventures looking to tap into startup innovations, including in retail and various other markets.
• The Netherlands this week switched on its wireless IoT network, which covers the entire country. The network initially went live in Rotterdam and The Hague late last year preceding the entire country rollout. The network will be used to connect tens of millions of embedded devices.

These and others are not small deals.

And they are not being driven by small entities.

This is appropriate, since the Internet of Things will not be a small transformation of all things marketing.

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Looking for insights into wearables? Come hear Chuck Fletcher of Razorfish, Ben Gaddis of T3 and Marley Kaplan of Kinetic Worldwide at the MediaPost IoT Marketing Forum Aug. 3 in New York. Check it out the agenda here.