Telefónica Tech first beacon with Narrow Band-IoT (NB-IoT) connectivity will be launched on 1 February by KPS Group‘s road safety and consumer electronics accessory brand FlashLED. The new beacon, ‘FlashLED SOS V16‘, will be available at leading automotive and consumer electronics shops at a price of 59.95 euros.
The ‘FlashLED SOS V16’ connected beacon has all the necessary functionalities to guarantee both emergency signalling and connectivity and send data to the DGT, as required by the recent amendment to Royal Decree 159/2021, which regulates emergency services on public roads and obliges drivers in Spain to replace emergency triangles with these connected devices from 1 January 2026.
The ‘FlashLED SOS V16’ beacon connected by Telefónica Tech will anonymously communicate the position of the vehicle stopped in an emergency so that the DGT can optimise traffic management and road safety. Likewise, the device will also allow the driver to signal the stop of the vehicle with light signals without the need to go down to the road as it happened until now with the triangles.
Telefónica Tech offers in the ‘FlashLED SOS V16’ beacon at least 12 years of latest generation NB-IoT connectivity, which allows a very low consumption of the device’s battery to extend its useful life and ensure coverage throughout the national territory, as well as the management of this connectivity through its Kite platform. Telefónica Tech’s Kite managed connectivity platform increases the efficiency and security of the information collected by the beacon and also facilitates the sending of information to the DGT in compliance with all regulatory requirements.
Telefónica Tech also offers technological support and hardware development capabilities to beacon manufacturers through its The Thinx laboratory, an advanced IoT environment that the company has to design, simulate and verify with technical experts the correct operation of the products before their launch and that is operational at all times afterwards to guarantee the quality of the service.
Telefónica Tech’s connectivity solution will be progressively integrated with other manufacturers of these devices to connect millions of beacons in the coming years. Telefónica Tech aims to be a leader in the project that will connect the beacons of more than 30 million vehicles in Spain thanks to its experience and capabilities in the field of IoT connectivity.
Gonzalo Martín-Villa, CEO of IoT and Big Data at Telefónica Tech, considers it very positive to promote digitalisation with the aim of improving road safety. “Telecommunications networks, in this case the latest generation NB-IoT networks specially designed to connect Internet of Things objects, play a fundamental role in improving people’s lives, as they enhance the safety of drivers and vehicle occupants in an emergency situation,” he said.
Jordi Gilberga, project manager at FlashLED, said: “We are very pleased to be able to count on Telefónica Tech as a partner for the development of the new FlashLED SOS V16 connected beacon. These new devices are here to transform the way we think about road safety. We are delighted to be able to pioneer this kind of change and do our bit in an area that is so important for the health of society.
