Cellnex Telecom and Spain-based start-up Nearby Sensor entered into an agreement for the telecommunications infrastructure operator to join the share capital of Nearby Sensor with a contribution of EUR 0.5 million, equivalent to a 15 percent stake in the company. Nearby Sensor, founded in 2013 and based in Barcelona, creates systems and applications for smart cities, infrastructure and large facilities.

Nearby Sensor cis dedicated to rolling out IoT, edge computing and the automation of Information Technology / Operational Technology (IT-OT) hybrid processes, which will emerge with the future arrival of 5G networks, Cellnex said. In addition to Cellnex, the shareholders of the Catalan start-up include the founders of the company, who are professionals linked to the implementation of technology in the public management of the city of Barcelona, Urbidermis of the Santa & Cole group, and the Eacom engineering company.

Cellnex was especially interested in Nearby Sensor’ participation in the constitution of a spin-off called Nearby Computing, together with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputacion (BSC-CNS). Nearby Computing offers a differential, high-tech product for corporate IoT and 5G roll-outs, based on the research generated in the BSC-CNS and the UPC (Polytechnical University of Catalonia).

Nearby Sensor and Nearby Computing are complementary products that together provide an overarching approach to the issue of rolling out large IoT networks.

The functionalities of Nearby Computing have led to joint projects being set up with companies as important as Cellnex Telecom itself, Cisco Systems, and Intel. The company is currently preparing a demonstration of the architectures it’s creating to present them at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next February.