The telco joins IBM, Cisco and Bouygues Telecom - among others - in its drive of the LoRaWAN protocol, a global carrier-grade low power wide area network (LPWAN) that provides long range, lower power connectivity between sensors and base stations.
The standard is said to enable innovation within the IoT space through openly available specification, certified secure interoperability, open business models and a global ecosystem.
Mari-Noëlle Jégo-Laveissière, senior executive vice president for innovation, marketing and technologies at Orange, said the move is part of its Essentials2020 strategic plan and launch of its France-wide LoRaWAN network.
“LoRaWAN is complementary to our overall strategy for internet of things. LoRa Alliance and LoRaWAN meet customers feature expectations, our business model and has the largest LPWAN eco-system,” said Jégo-Laveissière.
Orange announced it was building an IoT network across France to enable a range of smart city applications.
After a test of the LoRaWAN standard in Grenoble, France involving over 50 partner companies, the operator selected the networking technology as the basis for the network rollout. It claims to be the largest operator adopter of the LoRaWAN standard.
