The Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technology Narrow-Band IoT (NB-IoT) is currently one of the most widely discussed innovations in M2M communication for the Internet of Things, with analysts anticipating around three billion LPWA connections by 2023.
The technology runs on existing operator networks in licensed spectrum to support a massive number of IoT devices. It is especially optimized for applications with low bandwidth requirements (from 100bit/s to just a few Kbit/s), such as smart parking, smart metering or smart waste management, and enables a much deeper indoor penetration than currently available (+20db compared to GSM). With low power consumption and a battery life of up to 10 years, the technology is environmentally friendly and ideal for mass production and deployment.
Deutsche Telekom has been actively involved in the development of NB-IoT, realizing the world’s first implementation of pre- standard NB-IoT on a commercial network back in October 2015, and leading efforts within 3GPP and GSMA to promote global standardization. The 3GPP standard specifications have now been completed (Rel-13, June 2016), paving the way for the introduction of NB-IoT scheduled from 2017 onwards.
"Our aim is to provide our customers with IoT solutions that work worldwide based on international standards," says Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, Chief Technology Officer, Deutsche Telekom. "The NB-IoT technology is a future-proof and reliable solution that supports international operations and will enable a meaningful and broad IoT ecosystem for our customers in the coming years."
In order to accelerate market adoption and jump-start the ecosystem around the NB-IoT technology, Deutsche Telekom has recently established its NB-IoT Prototyping Hub. Bringing existing and potential customers together with Deutsche Telekom’s pool of specialized and highly skilled IoT developers, the NB-IoT Prototyping Hub lays the foundation for the industry to fully harness the innovative potential of NB-IoT and increase time-to-market speed to the benefit of business and consumers alike. Most importantly, Deutsche Telekom’s B2B customers will be able to gain crucial market insights which will allow for rapid market entry, as well as build flexible and highly scalable NB-IoT applications and business models that will be effective for years to come.
The ideation, development of NB-IoT business models and use cases is being orchestrated in Deutsche Telekom’s hub:raum facilities in Berlin and Krakow. The NB-IoT developer community will be provided with a starter developer kit and relevant support.