Leuven, Belgium – August 19, 2015 – Option (EURONEXT: OPTI; OTC: OPNVY) has won an important engineering contract to develop an M2M solution for the connected car. The development, awarded to Option for its world class RF (Radio Frequency) engineering capabilities, will be completed in 2016. The project includes multiple man-years of engineering and will contribute to the company’s results with revenue & cash generation as from the second half of 2015.
The project more specifically involves the development of a cellular OBD 2 Datalogger solution to monitor driver behavior and is aimed at the high volume consumer market. OBD 2 (On Board Diagnostics) is an automotive term referring to a vehicle’s self-diagnostic and reporting capability. OBD 2 gives users access to the status of the various vehicle subsystems. An OBD 2 Datalogger solution uses a standardized digital communications port to provide real-time data coming from the car. Car manufacturers comply with this standard and most cars are equipped with this type of communications port.
The contract is a turnkey project and includes design, prototyping, field-testing, production engineering and operator certification. The solution will process important car and GPS position information and through its cellular data connection communicate these data to the cloud. This information can be used by Insurance companies to define custom insurance policies.
OBD 2 telematics shipments are expected to experience a double-digit growth in the next 5 years, mainly driven by the global demand of insurance companies.
The development of such a solution requires accumulated expertise of telecommunication technologies and in competitive design, high volume production techniques and project management skills: exactly the reasons why Option was selected.
Frank Deschuytere, Option’s CEO commented: “Turnkey development projects for solutions related to the Internet of Things are, next to building and commercializing solutions for our CloudGate platform, a next pillar of our business model. The burgeoning business of the Internet of Things create exciting new opportunities for our Company.”
ABOUT OPTION
Option connects Things to the Cloud. With more than 25 years of experience and many industry’s firsts in the wireless industry, the Company is ideally positioned to bring the most efficient, reliable and secure wireless solutions to business markets (B2B) and industrial markets (M2M). The Company partners with system integrators, value added resellers, application platform providers, value add distributors and network operators to bring tailor made solutions to end-customers. Option is headquartered in Belgium and maintains offices in Europe, the US, Greater China, Japan and Australia. More information: www.option.com
