Orange Business Services Advances Enterprise IoT with LTE-M Network and Devices
- LTE-M enables new
IoT use cases for enterprises seeking low battery consumption for
sensors, extended coverage and mobility on a global scale.
- Demos of LTE-M applications and devices at IoT Solutions World Congress.
Orange Business
Services has accelerated its LTE-M strategy to support the development
of internet of things (IoT) solutions for the enterprise market. This
follows the announcement by Orange in February 2017 that the Group would
be prioritizing LTE-M across its footprint in Europe, and today it
announces significant progress.
Orange has launched several LTE-M field trials:
- In
Spain, Orange has started several tests with strategic customers and
device manufacturers in an open ecosystem of participation. The trials
cover different sectors and applications, including smart utility, smart
cities and facility management.
- In Belgium, Orange is preparing the opening of an LTE IoT City in Antwerp, open for customer pilots in Q4 2017.
- In France, Orange is planning internal trials on both technical and usage aspects starting in Q4 2017.
All of these trials are being carried out ahead of the LTE-M network launch in 2018.
Orange reinforces its test program for LTE-M device makers
The
availability of LTE-M is part of the Group’s dedicated program to
support connected object and module makers. Orange welcomes object
makers in its “Open IoT Lab” (compliant with GSMA) located at Orange
Gardens. At this innovation site, the Group provides technical resources
and expert support.
The availability of three LTE-M devices marks
a new milestone in Orange’s continuous commitment to boost the IoT
ecosystem. The first equipment Orange has tested on its LTE-M network
includes:
- rugged products designed to be used in asset tracking and Industry 4.0 use cases;
- a GPS personal tracker with a waterproof casing that is targeted at lone worker applications;
- a small GPS tracker developed for tracking valuable items.
The first samples of these products are now available for testing in customer pilots.
LTE-M
is an evolution of the LTE (or 4G) mobile network, which is designed to
meet the lower consumption required by IoT applications. The network
will be integrated into the Orange IoT strategy through the Datavenue
IoT and Data Analytics offer. It will enrich the connectivity solutions,
such as LoRa®, 2G/3G/4G and Wi-Fi, which connects objects securely. The
LTE-M tested modules also enhance the Datavenue connected device
catalog, which now has 80 objects.
“The development of the LTE-M
network is part of our strategy to provide a full range of IoT
connectivity options for our customers through Datavenue. The
availability of the LTE-M devices enables our customers to start
developing their LTE-M applications before the full networks are
launched in 2018. We believe that LTE-M is a perfect match for a wide
range of IoT use cases in Industry 4.0, fleet management and asset
tracking,” said Olivier Ondet, Vice President of IoT and Analytics,
Orange Business Services.
There are many enterprise IoT use cases
linked to LTE-M, such as asset tracking, remote monitoring, predictive
maintenance, smart metering, telematics and automotive insurance.
Demonstrations of the Orange LTE-M network (running live on the Orange
Spain network), equipment and use cases will be on display at the IoT
Solutions World Congress in Barcelona. An industry first, the live LTE-M
demo will leverage the Orange data management platform Live Objects.
Visit the Orange booth, #E581, to see IoT in action for the
manufacturing, logistics, utility and retail industries.
Source: Orange media announcement