What do CALA’s and Southeast Asian telecom industries have in common? Their security issues. Theft and vandalism have been impacting MNOs and towercos’ operations and balance sheets for decades and security has become one of the main industry challenges across multiple geographies. Hizima’s smart and integrated locking systems have successfully helped telecom leaders to overcome those challenges across Asia and the company is now eager to expand its portfolio to Latin America - another region severely affected by vandalism and theft.
TowerXchange: Could you please introduce Chengdu Hizima Technology to our readers?
Zhou Guoquan, General Manager, Chengdu Hizima Technology:
Chengdu Hizima Technology Co., Ltd is a professional provider of smart locking systems. Founded in 2014 and located in Chengdu, China, we have a strong focus on R&D and export our smart lock products - certified by ISO, CE, FCC and RoHS - globally.
Hizima counts with an experienced technical team with a strong expertise in hardware design, security chip encryption, large-scale software development and project integration. Our team has developed several intellectual property rights and 28 domestic and foreign patents, including six national invention patents. The quality of our smart lock products has reached the world’s most advanced levels and our mission is to provide the most suitable access control solution to our customers.
TowerXchange: What is your experience within the telecoms sector globally and specifically in Latin America?
Zhou Guoquan, General Manager, Chengdu Hizima Technology:
In the global tower industry, there are a large number of unattended outdoor assets with extensive geographical distribution, and a considerable number of those sites still rely on conventional mechanical locks, which are not very safe as the keys are easily duplicable. The keys are usually transferred between multiple people so they become untraceable. The attendance cost is high, key registration and key management are required and the efficiency is very low. In addition, once a key is lost, it is hardly traceable.
We work closely with many telecom partners across China and Southeast Asia and we are replacing their existing mechanical locks with modern IoT and automated information technologies to solve those problems and deliver a cost-effective solution. During our initial communications with some telecom companies in Latin America, we found that their pain points are very similar to our partners’ in the Asian market and I think our extensive experience in Asia could be a competitive advantage when entering CALA.
TowerXchange: What are the main security challenges and inefficiencies that you see in the region and how can your solution help MNOs and towercos in overcoming those challenge?
Zhou Guoquan, General Manager, Chengdu Hizima Technology:
As in most other regions, the security problem that both MNOs and towercos face is the loss of outdoor assets as well as the destruction of locks and fences, mainly due to theft by the hands of internal personnel that simply duplicate the keys. Theft by contractors or third parties is another big issue. Poor key management also causes inefficiencies as many towers still use conventional mechanical locks so it can take a lot of time to collect and return the keys, which also increases transportation cost.
Our solution integrates a management centre, a smart phone app, a smart key and a variety of smart locks. The smart key and locks are remotely managed through our app. Maintenance professionals only need to apply for a ticket that gives them unlocking permission while the manager can monitor when and who accesses the site, which ensures safety and convenience.
The central management system also keeps track of every operation. On this basis, our clients can perform data analysis while evaluating their workforce KPIs.
TowerXchange: What differentiates your offer and solutions from your competitors’ and what is unique about your value proposition?
Zhou Guoquan, General Manager, Chengdu Hizima Technology:
First of all, we provide a wide range of passive smart locks, keyless smart locks and even a combination of the two.
The passive smart locks we produce are idling design. Many people think that when an unpaired key is inserted into a lock, it won’t turn, but our locks are the opposite. No matter whether the key is correct or not, it can be turned after you insert the key into the lock. The difference is that if the key has unlock permission, the lock can be opened, otherwise the key will keep rotating without opening. One obvious benefit of this design is that if someone tries to drill a lock by inserting a tool through the keyhole, it is hard to find a force point and it is more resistant to violent unlocking.
Secondly, our locks are easy to install, especially for the cabinet locks used in the telecom industry, which are very difficult to replace. We have easily solved these problems through a clever design, so that the overall cost of replacement is very low.
Although we have various types of smart locks and keys, they all run under the same management centre and smart phone app, which means that we have a rich hardware layer under a unified software and user layers. We provide different types of locks, enabling different customers to choose according to their own particular needs and applications. We know that each customer’s needs are different, so our software can be adjusted depending on their actual requirements.
TowerXchange: Where do you see the main opportunities in CALA and what has been the response from key players so far since you start exploring the market?
Zhou Guoquan, General Manager, Chengdu Hizima Technology:
Security and access control challenges in telecoms are very similar all around the world. CALA is one of the regions that most suffer from theft and vandalism and they are now exploring and investing in smart access control solutions so we see plenty of opportunities regionally.
We have an extensive experience in the industry and our solutions have successfully helped our customers globally. We have been in contact with some telecom players in the region and they have a strong interest in our solutions, which is certainly encouraging.
