IoT carrier 1NCE has appointed IoT pioneer Ivo Rook as its chief operating officer (COO). Rook is a former CEO for IoT at Vodafone, senior vice president at T-Mobile US and Sprint, and liaison officer for SoftBank.

Following the recent $50m investment by SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom, Rook will move from the investment side to 1NCE to lead the company operationally. He will execute 1NCE’s expansion plans in the USA and Asia and will work with the technology team to develop the next level in IoT software.

“As a thought leader on the IoT, Ivo brings in a vast amount of expertise,” said Alexander Sator, CEO of 1NCE “Under his leadership, further expansion plans of 1NCE are in perfect hands. I am excited to welcome him to the team.”

Rook has many years of experience in the field of the IoT. He has worked in private equity to analyse the global IoT market and to choose the best possible investments.

“More than 70 per cent of all IoT projects have international requirements,” said Rook. “1NCE is well suited to serve global customers, as it can integrate multiple networks and bearers. Plus, with its own cloud-native IoT software platform it is perfectly equipped to simplify the creation of IoT applications. Due to its in-house development and cooperation with partners like Deutsche Telekom and AWS, 1NCE has obtained a leading position on costs and features.”

Rook will lead the global expansion of 1NCE, which will include expansion of its US business as well as strengthening its role in Asian markets.

“I am confident, that we’re on the winning side here,” said Rook. “1NCE has an expert culture and hires, trains and develops the very best IoT professionals. A tech company that really cares about their people and customers. With this team at hand, we’re continuing to develop the next level IoT software, making IoT deployments easier than ever before.”

1NCE, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, was founded in 2017 together with Deutsche Telekom AG and has 150 staff in Cologne, Hamburg, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Paris, Warsaw, Hong Kong and Riga.