The showcase demonstrated the improved network coverage and potential advantages of future NB-IoT services the Telekom Austria Group will soon be offering country wide. Narrowband NB-IoT is the global industry standard for tomorrow’s wireless communication between machines.
Thanks to a software update in the A1 network infrastructure, NB-IoT will be available without any additional network expansion. Together with Nokia the company will be able to deliver nationwide IoT services and application scenarios in one strategic move.
The partnership believes that the global eco-system of Open Standards, which they are utilising, guarantees the long-term availability of the technology and an excellent cost structure.
Bernd Liebscher, managing director of Telekom Austria M2M said: “The introduction of NB-IoT is the next logical step in our M2M strategy to make the best technology and know-how on the market available to our customers and partners. We are delighted that with Nokia we have found such a highly-qualified partner for this technological step that will enable us to serve the fast-growing IoT market”, said, after the demo at the M2M/IoT Forum in Vienna.
“IoT devices could make up to 6.8 trillion daily connection requests by 2020. Our joint demonstration of NBIoT clearly shows the potential of this technology for managing this immense volume of connections and also Nokia’s readiness to contribute to the development and implementation of the most innovative solutions in Austria together with A1, which at the end of the day will improve consumers’ quality of life, health and safety”, said Peter Wukowits, country senior officer of Austria and head of Central Europe at Nokia.
Unlike broadband transmissions such as video streaming or surfing the Internet, M2M applications in the IoT band, require only small data packets. The Narrowband IoT was developed as a narrowband wireless technology to use LTE technology as efficiently as possible by enabling small amounts of data and low data rates to be transferred over existing mobile communication infrastructure.
NB-IoT was developed specifically to provide massive support for M2M applications over LTE and is characterised by very low power consumption which means that modules can be installed at a distance from the electricity grid. The network technologies fall into the category Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) and are based on standardised, non-proprietary systems that enjoy the support of the mobile communication industry worldwide.
The advantages of this optimised LTE variant are low implementation costs, maximised network coverage and high energy efficiency.
In the coming months, the A1 LTE-network will receive regular updates.
