Smart Industry 1/2017

A
disruptive technology like the
Internet of Things requires
new standards in bandwidth
technologies. According to the
Vodafone M2M Barometer 2015, high
costs are the third most common
barrier, behind security and privacy, to
the increased use of Internet of Things
and M2M solutions.
The distribution of many IoT solutions
requires the availability of longer
battery life, cheaper devices, lower
deployment costs, and better coverage
than can be established with M2M
networks that are currently available.
Low power, wide area (LPWA) technologies
have emerged to fill the gap
between cellular mobile and short
range networks, such as Bluetooth or
Wi-Fi. The resulting fight for market
space has become a battlefield for
several standards.
What is LPWA?
Low power, wide area technology is
a new type of connectivity standard
designed to complement existing
tele communications networks and
link specifically with constrained IoT
devices. LPWA networks operate on a
different part of the wireless spectrum,
with a lower bandwidth, enabling
access to wide area communications
at low cost and with low power consumption.
The technology is used for
long-range communications in urban
areas enabling smart city solutions,
such as lighting, metering, or grid
monitoring. It is also a good option for
applications in isolated areas where
long battery life is particularly useful,
like smart agriculture solutions or
pipeline monitoring.
The networks aren’t meant for devices
used in areas with constant access to
local Wi-Fi networks and power supplies,
and can’t be used for advanced
or critical IoT solutions which require
high data rates and reliability, such as
connected cars.
The most prominent standards in the
LPWA field are Sigfox, NB-IoT, and
LoRa. Smaller emerging standards include
Ingenu, Weightless-P, or Waviot.
In order to compare these LPWA technologies,
it is essential to understand
the background of each standard,
their technological aspects and the
business models behind them.
Emerging LPWA Standards
Market Entrance 2009 2012 2017
Number of Connections 9m n/a 10k
Bandwidth
Unlicensed
~900MHz
Unlicensed
~900MHz
Sigfox, a French company founded
in 2009 with the intent of creating
a global long range infrastructure,
was the first organization to recognize
the gap to be filled by LPWA
and can therefore be considered the
prime mover. As a startup, it has collected
$309m in funding, its latest
two rounds achieving record contributions
of more than $100m (Series
D, February 2015) and $160m
Licensed LTE bands
Guard band, standalone
Max. data rate 0.1kbps 0.3-50kbps 170-250kbps
Network strategy
Hardware strategy
Network operated
by Sigfox
Open to all hardware
providers
Do not expect a
unique wireless
technology to
conquer the
market, neither
NB-IoT nor
other LPWAN
alternatives
like LoRaWAN
or Sigfox. There
will always be
fragmentation
as each
technology has
its own pros
and cons
Alicia Asín
CEO and cofounder
Libelium
Network can be
operated by anyone
Open to all hardware
providers but only
licensed chipsets
Public / Private Networks Public Public & private Public
Typical Use Case Connected garbage cans Precision farming/
remote irrigation
NB IoT
Network can be operated
by any telco firm
Open to all hardware
providers
Smart grid metering
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