Orange Belgium announced that it will implement two new narrowband Internet-of-Things technologies, Narrow Band-IoT(NB-IoT) and LTE-M on its mobile network in 2017.
Known as Mobile IoT, the LTE-M and NB-IoT technologies are Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) cellular network layers that will allow millions of everyday objects to be connected to the Internet of Things (IoT).
LPWA technologies offer many advantages when connecting objects to the IoT, like low energy consumption so the battery of the connected equipment lives up to 10 years longer and the low cost of the radio modules inside the devices that need to be connected.
Orange's Mobile IoT (NB-IoT and LTE-M) network will be operational in the first half of 2017, and will cover the entire national territory in 2017. Initially, it will be used for tests with Orange, their partners, and their business clients. It will then be launched commercially in the second half of 2017.
The rollout of both technologies will involve software upgrade to Oranges existing 4G network that covers around 99.8% of Belgian population, enabling nationwide coverage almost immediately.
