LUKE KEHOE
  • Home
  • Fixed
    • Exploring the Edge and the Future of a Decentralised Internet
    • Messing with the National Broadband Plan is a perilous precedent for Ireland
    • How Fibre is shaping 5G
    • Examining the viability of FWA in the 5G Era
    • The Changing Face of Broadband in Ireland
    • Dismantling the Optics of a National Broadband Plan fraught with trouble
    • Ireland's Gigabit Society is now within an arm's reach
    • The Merits of a Hybrid Broadband Network
    • Fibre: The Electricity of Tomorrow
    • The National Broadband Plan: Needlessly corrupted by Politics
    • Investigating the alternatives to Fibre Broadband in Ireland
    • Virgin Media: The Company that changed how we think about Broadband in Ireland
    • The Evolution of Quad-Play Services
    • An Analysis of Net Neutrality in Ireland: Why we are Particularly Vulnerable to its Eradication
    • The Best Mobile Broadband Plans in Ireland
    • eir: Few Companies have this much Potential
    • The National Broadband Plan: A Dream marred by Mistakes
    • How SIRO is revolutionising Ireland
    • The Best Fibre Broadband Only Plans
  • Mobile
    • Analysis: Vodafone goes unlimited in Ireland
    • A Breath of Fresh Eir
    • Understanding VoLTE: The Voice of Tomorrow
    • Your Technical Guide to WiFi Calling in Ireland.
    • Mapping Ireland and Europe's path to 5G
    • 5G and the Divide Divide haunting Ireland
    • Busting three myths thwarting the IoT
    • The MVNO model is ripe for disruption
    • Pest Pulse is using the IoT to tackle an old problem in a new way
    • The trends that will shape Ireland's Mobile Market in 2019
    • Mobile Coverage and Ireland: Not a Match
    • An Interview with the man building Ireland's largest IoT Network: Will Ferguson
    • The State of the IoT in Ireland
    • The Struggle to Monetise Data
    • In Ireland, Huawei finds a home with Three and eir, rebelling against "Security Concerns"
    • Revealed: The Irish Network with the Best 4G Coverage 2018
    • How are we tackling Coverage Black Spots in Ireland?
    • Breaking Down ComReg's latest Report on the Irish Mobile Market
    • The Shift from Growth to Retention in the Irish Telecoms Market
    • Five Challenges that the IoT is facing
    • Why ComReg is Vital for a Successful Telecoms Industry in Ireland
    • Tesco Mobile passes 400,000 Customers and adds 4G
    • How our Mobile Providers are facilitating surging Data Traffic
    • Eight Industries that are being transformed by Sigfox
    • Vodafone Review: The Best Network in Ireland keeps getting Better
    • Why will 5G be faster than 4G?
    • Is Xavier Niel on the verge of shaking up the Irish Mobile Market with Eir
    • Eir overhauls its mobile plans, giving customers more data than ever
    • NB-IoT Explained: The Technology that Vodafone hopes will connect everything
    • The MVNO Flop: Why Ireland's MVNOs have failed to make an impact
    • Explained: Why Telecoms and Media Giants are Merging
    • The Power of Sigfox: Pioneering the IoT Revolution
    • Vodafone Ireland launches "V by Vodafone", bringing the Internet of Things to the masses
    • The IoT Revolution: Connecting Everything
    • The Unlimited Delusion: When Unlimited means Limited
    • The Best Mobile Plans for your Business
    • The Best Bill Pay Plans in Ireland
    • The Best Pay as you go Plans in Ireland
    • Was the Three-O2 Merger a Mistake?
    • The State of Irish Mobile Networks: Summer 2018
    • Vodafone killed Cherry Points: A Mistake?
    • Here's how 5G will transform Ireland
    • Three just stormed past Eir
    • An analysis of Ireland's big three Mobile Networks
    • How Cheap can our Mobile Plans Get?
    • Net Neutrality: More than the Internet is at stake
    • Here's why Vodafone's pay as you go plans are the best out there.
    • iD Mobile's Demise is hardly a surprise
    • The Battle for 5G Supremacy
    • Unlimited Data is only as good as the Network it's on.
  • Reviews
    • eir Mobile Review: Not the Network to choose in 2018
    • Invoxia GPS Tracker Review: Elegance boasts Phenomenal Battery Life
    • Three Review: The Best Value Network in Ireland
    • Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset Review:
    • Vodafone TV Review: Redefining what we think of TV
    • Vodafone Mobile Broadband Review: Connecting the Disconnected
    • 3Plus Review: The Best Loyalty Program Out There
    • 3 Sim Only Review: World-Class Value
    • Tesco Mobile Review: The Best network for the Frugal
    • Three Review: All you can Eat Buffering
    • Vodafone Review: The Network to Beat
    • Meteor Review: Excellence Exemplified
    • Should Virgin Media be your next Mobile Network?
    • Samsung Galaxy S8: The Pinnacle of Smartphone Advancement
    • Huawei P10: The Best phone people don't know about
    • Vodafone Smart Platinum 7.
    • Vodafone Smart Prime 7.

#IoT

Pest Pulse is using the IoT to tackle an old problem in a new way.

Traversing the ups and downs of an IoT industry on the brink of explosion, Brian Monaghan explains where his company fits in.
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(Left to Right) John O'Gara, Moritz Meisel, Tim O'Toole, Brian Monaghan, Wassim Magnin, Alex Prokop.
Published 12/01/19
The Internet of Things ecosystem is flourishing in the presence of advancing device miniaturisation and ultra-narrow band networks which boast several fundamental concepts that are integral to new business cases revolving around bulk-connectivity. Virtually everything around us will be connected to the internet as we move towards a world in which data is the new oil. This connectivity is futile if it does not deliver cost and power efficiency, along with extreme reliability and versatility.

Pest Pulse takes an old problem, pest infestations, and applies the power of the IoT to tackle it in a new and, frankly, better way. Cutting out the middleman, providing real-time access to monitoring solutions and ensuring that there is constant connectivity to a robust network are all core contributors to Pest Pulse and its vision to become the largest pest control company, not simply on the island of Ireland, but in the world.

A vision as vibrant as the one being pursued by Pest Pulse can't be achieved with the stroke of a magic wand, and as the IoT industry has come to learn, simply building a platform doesn't mean they'll come. It is the development of comprehensive solutions which target real-world problems that will win over consumers and investors.

Can Pest Pulse be the driving force behind a fundamental transformation in the pest control industry?
 

​Who are you and what do you do?

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I’m one of the co-founders of Pest Pulse, along with Tim, John and Wassim. We came together to set up Pest Pulse which is a technology-led pest control services company that is using smart devices and software to offer a superior pest control service.  Alex and Moritz have joined the Pest Pulse journey and we’re now a team of six that will grow in
2019.
​
Our offering to customers is a package of smart devices, software and service. Our Eco-friendly smart devices monitor customer sites 24/7. Our first patent-pending smart device for rodents lets us know the status of a rodent snap trap at all times. When there is a trigger, this data is instantly relayed to our platform. This allows us to dispatch a technician when they are actually required and solve issues before they become major problems. All of this data is easily accessible on our multi-feature customer portal.

​Why did you create Pest Pulse and what is the company’s purpose?

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​Tim has known pest control since he was a child, having grown up in the family business, Pestguard, a major pest control company in Ireland. He has always complained about the lack of technology in the pest control industry and has always wanted to improve it. We started looking at the industry in more detail and the applicability of technology to it. We quickly realised that there is a huge opportunity and Pest Pulse was born.

​Our vision is to be the world’s largest pest control company by providing customers with the best offering through a technology-led approach. Last year, 2018, was amazing, with the first steps taken on that path.

​How did you develop a passion for the IoT?

I’ve always been very interested in the IoT, but more as hobbyist messing with a Raspberry Pi rather than a professional. Wassim, on the other hand, is a seasoned IoT professional, as well as a hobbyist. He has designed IoT devices for companies such as AT&T and Intel in previous roles.
​
When we started looking at the problems in the pest control industry, we quickly realised that the solution was IoT-based products. Most of the time spent by pest control technicians is checking monitoring stations every 6-8 weeks for pest activity, a task that could easily be completed by IoT devices with 24/7 monitoring. The IoT is central to our product offering and company. It is the solution to the problems faced in the pest control industry.

Why Sigfox?

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Will Ferguson and Mark Bannon of VT IoT
Our key connectivity criteria are a wide network coverage, low cost and low power usage. This is key to ensure our IoT devices are adopted by our customers. Sigfox meets these criteria better than any of the alternatives.

What’s more, Will Ferguson and Mark Bannon in VT IoT, the Sigfox network operator in Ireland, have been extremely helpful in the development of our initial devices. There’s no reason for us to look for a different provider, Sigfox are delivering the connectivity service that we need. Also, with the enhancements that they have planned, we're confident that Sigfox will continue to be the best connectivity option for Pest Pulse for a long time.

Looking to the future, how will Pest Pulse adapt to an ever-evolving industry?

​Within the pest control industry, we want to be the folks who are changing the industry. We want to be at the forefront, driving the next evolution of pest control. We do this in part by staying very close to the changing IoT industry, chatting to the key stakeholders and getting their take on what is happening in the IoT.

​We’re constantly brainstorming how we can apply new technology to the pest control industry. The IoT, and technology in general, continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with new opportunities continually opening up.

Which upcoming technologies do you believe will have the greatest impact on Pest Pulse and the IoT industry?

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​For Pest Pulse, advances in Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technology will probably have the greatest impact. Whether that’s a compelling challenger that meets our key criteria better than Sigfox or whether it’s the improvements that Sigfox continues to implement.

​The inevitability is that costs will plummet. Power consumption will also fall resulting in longer battery life. This opens up the door for even more devices that are financially viable to introduce.

​For the IoT in general, I think that edge computing, coupled with the rollout of 5G, will have a transformative impact. This isn’t simply for complex solutions like self-driving cars or drones. It’s for everyday devices that require real-time data processing and feedback to be valuable and I believe that advances in this area will continue at a rapid pace.

What advice would you give to someone setting up a new company IoT company?

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​Resilience, perseverance, grit and determination are some of the most important characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. That’s true for an entrepreneur in any industry but nowhere is it more relevant than for an IoT entrepreneur.

​Mass adoption and the explosion of devices has been slower than what was predicted in the past. Nobody is doubting that it will happen though, it has just taken longer to get all the key pieces in place. If you have a great IoT product or service that is solving a real problem, then stick with it, even through the lowest lows. The take-off will happen.
Pest Pulse has enjoyed an injection of €250,000 from private investors. The Irish start-up is an example of how our island is becoming an incubator for immense growth and innovation in the IoT space.

The IoT ecosystem is constantly expanding, with each new device and solution influencing the development and adoption of another in a ripple effect that will only intensify with time.

An IoT Revolution is underway, and it is the companies which adapt, evolve and innovate today that will be the champions of connectivity tomorrow.

The State of the IoT in Ireland

Ireland is leading the charge to a connected future in which data is the new oil.
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  • Home
  • Fixed
    • Exploring the Edge and the Future of a Decentralised Internet
    • Messing with the National Broadband Plan is a perilous precedent for Ireland
    • How Fibre is shaping 5G
    • Examining the viability of FWA in the 5G Era
    • The Changing Face of Broadband in Ireland
    • Dismantling the Optics of a National Broadband Plan fraught with trouble
    • Ireland's Gigabit Society is now within an arm's reach
    • The Merits of a Hybrid Broadband Network
    • Fibre: The Electricity of Tomorrow
    • The National Broadband Plan: Needlessly corrupted by Politics
    • Investigating the alternatives to Fibre Broadband in Ireland
    • Virgin Media: The Company that changed how we think about Broadband in Ireland
    • The Evolution of Quad-Play Services
    • An Analysis of Net Neutrality in Ireland: Why we are Particularly Vulnerable to its Eradication
    • The Best Mobile Broadband Plans in Ireland
    • eir: Few Companies have this much Potential
    • The National Broadband Plan: A Dream marred by Mistakes
    • How SIRO is revolutionising Ireland
    • The Best Fibre Broadband Only Plans
  • Mobile
    • Analysis: Vodafone goes unlimited in Ireland
    • A Breath of Fresh Eir
    • Understanding VoLTE: The Voice of Tomorrow
    • Your Technical Guide to WiFi Calling in Ireland.
    • Mapping Ireland and Europe's path to 5G
    • 5G and the Divide Divide haunting Ireland
    • Busting three myths thwarting the IoT
    • The MVNO model is ripe for disruption
    • Pest Pulse is using the IoT to tackle an old problem in a new way
    • The trends that will shape Ireland's Mobile Market in 2019
    • Mobile Coverage and Ireland: Not a Match
    • An Interview with the man building Ireland's largest IoT Network: Will Ferguson
    • The State of the IoT in Ireland
    • The Struggle to Monetise Data
    • In Ireland, Huawei finds a home with Three and eir, rebelling against "Security Concerns"
    • Revealed: The Irish Network with the Best 4G Coverage 2018
    • How are we tackling Coverage Black Spots in Ireland?
    • Breaking Down ComReg's latest Report on the Irish Mobile Market
    • The Shift from Growth to Retention in the Irish Telecoms Market
    • Five Challenges that the IoT is facing
    • Why ComReg is Vital for a Successful Telecoms Industry in Ireland
    • Tesco Mobile passes 400,000 Customers and adds 4G
    • How our Mobile Providers are facilitating surging Data Traffic
    • Eight Industries that are being transformed by Sigfox
    • Vodafone Review: The Best Network in Ireland keeps getting Better
    • Why will 5G be faster than 4G?
    • Is Xavier Niel on the verge of shaking up the Irish Mobile Market with Eir
    • Eir overhauls its mobile plans, giving customers more data than ever
    • NB-IoT Explained: The Technology that Vodafone hopes will connect everything
    • The MVNO Flop: Why Ireland's MVNOs have failed to make an impact
    • Explained: Why Telecoms and Media Giants are Merging
    • The Power of Sigfox: Pioneering the IoT Revolution
    • Vodafone Ireland launches "V by Vodafone", bringing the Internet of Things to the masses
    • The IoT Revolution: Connecting Everything
    • The Unlimited Delusion: When Unlimited means Limited
    • The Best Mobile Plans for your Business
    • The Best Bill Pay Plans in Ireland
    • The Best Pay as you go Plans in Ireland
    • Was the Three-O2 Merger a Mistake?
    • The State of Irish Mobile Networks: Summer 2018
    • Vodafone killed Cherry Points: A Mistake?
    • Here's how 5G will transform Ireland
    • Three just stormed past Eir
    • An analysis of Ireland's big three Mobile Networks
    • How Cheap can our Mobile Plans Get?
    • Net Neutrality: More than the Internet is at stake
    • Here's why Vodafone's pay as you go plans are the best out there.
    • iD Mobile's Demise is hardly a surprise
    • The Battle for 5G Supremacy
    • Unlimited Data is only as good as the Network it's on.
  • Reviews
    • eir Mobile Review: Not the Network to choose in 2018
    • Invoxia GPS Tracker Review: Elegance boasts Phenomenal Battery Life
    • Three Review: The Best Value Network in Ireland
    • Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset Review:
    • Vodafone TV Review: Redefining what we think of TV
    • Vodafone Mobile Broadband Review: Connecting the Disconnected
    • 3Plus Review: The Best Loyalty Program Out There
    • 3 Sim Only Review: World-Class Value
    • Tesco Mobile Review: The Best network for the Frugal
    • Three Review: All you can Eat Buffering
    • Vodafone Review: The Network to Beat
    • Meteor Review: Excellence Exemplified
    • Should Virgin Media be your next Mobile Network?
    • Samsung Galaxy S8: The Pinnacle of Smartphone Advancement
    • Huawei P10: The Best phone people don't know about
    • Vodafone Smart Platinum 7.
    • Vodafone Smart Prime 7.