“LPWANs represent the most dynamic and potentially game changing development in the M2M/IoT market,” said David Parker, senior analyst at Beecham Research and the author of the report. “The lower speeds of LPWANs are the trade-off for longer range, offering networks optimised for machine connectivity with much lower deployment costs than traditional cellular networks. LPWANs will both compete and collaborate with cellular and other network technologies to stimulate market growth with more connectivity options for end-users. “
The Beecham Research report investigates the increasing plethora of LPWAN technologies including the likes of Sigfox and companies in the LoRa Alliance, which are currently leading the LPWAN field in terms of network deployment, industry support, investment and customers. Most of these LPWAN solutions use the ISM (Industrial Scientific and Medical) bands better known for use by short range wireless technologies like Zigbee, Wifi and 6LoWPAN. However, recent advances have enabled LPWANs to be established using the ISM bands over longer distances, up to 50km in rural areas and 5 to 10km in urban areas.
Another LPWAN technology with long range, low power characteristics is known as TV White Spaces (TVWS), which uses the gaps in between VHF/UHF parts of the spectrum, previously used for TV broadcasting. TVWS promises connectivity over distances of 10km and with superior in-building penetration when compared to 3G or 4G.
“New entrants working in the ISM and TVWS bands are promoting overall market growth and providing a spur to action within the GSMA world,” said Parker. “Developing standards for the cellular operating community is a slower process but the emergence of LTE-M and Narrowband IoT (NB-IOT) will allow cellular operators to compete with these new entrants on a level playing field of range, battery life and costs.”
