Orange said that it has primarily chosen LTE-M to be progressively deployed on its 4G networks in Europe, starting with Belgium and Spain this year before the rest of the Group’s European footprint.
This versatile and cost-effective technology is seen by Orange to support the broadest of uses, connecting – in a secure and scalable way – a wide variety of IoT devices, from smart utility meters, asset monitoring trackers, vending machines and alarm systems to fleets of vehicles, heavy equipment, mHealth and wearables. It also offers rapid deployment involving a simple software upgrade to the Group’s existing global 4G network.
The group is also launching new LTE-M pilots this year, amongst them one on smart electric metering (to remotely control power consumption and adapt user subscriptions); and another on wearables (to measure individual movement, positioning, temperature or other health-related information). For those pilots, Orange is working closely with leading LTE-M chipset manufacturers: Altair Semiconductor, Qualcomm Technologies and Sequans as well as various network equipment vendors.
Orange cements its commitment to develop the IoT ecosystem with Europe’s first LTE-M Open IoT Lab
Orange is also creating an Open IoT Lab designed to boost the ecosystem around the Mobile Internet of Things. It is the first of its kind in Europe based on LTE-M technology and is to be launched under the GSMA Mobile IoT initiative.
Mari-Noelle Jego -Laveissiere, EVP Innovation, Marketing & Technologies, Orange
Futureproof, secured and reliable connectivity is a key pillar of Orange’s IoT strategy. By working together with IoT partners, device manufacturers and innovators, we can accelerate the development of the LTE-M technology end-to-end chain, and therefore advance towards the future of the Internet of Things.
