KPN claims first in Europe with start to LTE-M testing
Thursday 1 December 2016 | 11:06 CET | News
Dutch operator KPN has claimed a first in Europe with the start of testing LTE-M, the new 3GPP standard for IoT connections over 4G networks. The tests were conducted with Ericsson and Qualcomm.
KPN has already rolled out a LoRa network in the Netherlands, and said LTE-M will complement this as well as existing M2M services over its mobile network. LTE-M offers a slightly faster connection than LoRa, suiting applications in need of 50 Kbps to 1 Mbps and frequent communications, such as smart meters, mobile POS terminals and fleet management. LoRa meanwhile works best with applications needing minimum speeds (up to 50 Kbps) and long-life batteries, up to 15 years, while the existing 4G network can serve more demanding applications like infotainment in cars.
KPN also sees cost savings from LTE-M, which is expected to require much lower cost modules than the existing 4G M2M components. Mass production of LTE-M modules is expected to start in the course of 2017, and KPN expects to offer the services by the end of next year.