News
New Zealand incumbent aims to switch on LoRa-based infrastructure by June 2018.
Spark New Zealand announced on Monday that it plans to deploy a nationwide IoT network, parts of which will become operational by June 2018.
"The network we are rolling out is being developed by Kordia, who have commenced initial network design in preparation for the network build, which will operate on the LoRa network standard," said Michael Stribling, general manager, IoT, at Spark.
LoRa is a low power, wide area networking (LPWAN) technology that uses unlicensed spectrum to carry small amounts of data over long distances, using little energy.
Spark also plans to deploy IoT technologies that use licensed mobile spectrum, namely LTE-M1 and narrowband LTE (NB-IoT).
"We believe that there are different use cases emerging for different IoT networks, depending on the level and type of data that needs to be transmitted," Stribling said. "In making an investment in LoRa, in addition to its LTE investments, Spark believes it will be in a position to provide the broadest set of IoT solutions to its customers."
The New Zealand incumbent has also partnered with Actility, which will provide its IoT platform, and will support the deployment of the LoRa network.
"Spark is also excited to announce this development to help provide confidence to customers and ecosystem partners that there will soon be a nationwide LoRa network available in New Zealand," Stribling said. "We believe there is a significant opportunity for New Zealand device and solution companies to take a lead position in IoT, with projections suggesting the number of connected devices will explode globally."
