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Japanese telco to complete ‘full set’ of low power, wide area networks with Cat-M1, NB-IoT in the pipeline.
Softbank on Monday announced plans to roll out a LoRaWAN-based IoT network in Japan during fiscal 2016.
Softbank has partnered with IoT platform provider Actility, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, and LoRa chip maker Semtech in order to offer end-to-end IoT solutions.
It has set its sights on a slew of market sectors, including equipment and building monitoring, smart meters, transport, fleet management, agriculture, and natural disasters, among others.
"Softbank will be able to offer IoT solutions that meet differing customer preferences, utilising an optimised and high-value LoRaWAN network," said Softbank, in a statement.
Softbank did not say exactly when the network will go live, just that it will be rolled out during its 2016 financial year, which ends in March 2017.
Backed by the LoRa Alliance, LoRaWAN is a low power, wide area (LPWA) networking standard that uses unlicensed spectrum to send small amounts of data over long distances. LoRa modules are cheap to produce and use very little power, with battery-powered devices able to operate in the field for up to 10 years, depending what they are being used for.
Softbank said it will follow up its LoRaWAN deployment with IoT networks based on Cat-M1 and NB-IoT, which serve a similar purpose but use licensed spectrum.
The telco said that using more than one IoT standard will "ensure that it can efficiently comply with differing environments."
According to Machina Research, cellular IoT connections will number 2.2 billion by 2025, up from 334 million at the end of 2015. LPWA connections, like LoRaWAN for example, will account for 11% of that total.
