Narrowband IoT / LPWA

Narrowband IoT / Low Power Wireless Access (LPWA) Networks have come a long way since the choice was either SigFox, LoRa, or one of a plethora of other private, proprietary solutions. Narrowband IoT (“NB-IoT”) and its stablemate LTE Category 1 M (“LTE-M”), now mean that enterprises can plan an IoT deployment of any scale following significant investment by the MNOs.

Caburn Telecom have decades of experience in IoT / M2M and have been closely monitoring developments in the GSMA Narrowband field since the earliest announcements by the GSMA. As a result, we are in a great position to help our customers fully understand the implications for each technology and to choose the right technology for the long term.

Both 3GPP technologies have been designed to allow cheaper devices for large scale long-service life deployments, both are fully supported global standards, both offer very low battery drain, and both are 5G compatible.

NB-IoT is a low-speed, high latency, long-range reach, non-mobile and low-cost technology, ideally suited to solutions where static sensors are sending small, non-time sensitive data bursts that do not require a direct response. A big benefit is that NB-IoT enables large scale deployments of sensor networks without the need for meshing or gateways. Typical NB-IoT applications include: utility metering, tank level monitoring, parking meters, street lighting control, distribution network monitoring etc.

LTE-M is a medium-speed, low latency, mid-range reach, fully mobile and slightly higher cost technology. It is therefore ideal for applications where mobility is essential and data throughput is modest but latency is an issue. LTE-M allows cell-handover of a live data session and offers a voice option, making it ideal for mobility solutions. Typical LTE-M applications include tracking of trailers and rail trucks, wearables for lone-workers and healthcare use, telematics, asset monitoring, machine health monitoring etc.

We also provide ChipSim solutions, as well as eSIM and eUICC deployments.