Global Carriers Plan on LPWA IoT Networks in Licensed Spectrum

As important as fifth generation (5G) networks are expected to be, there are other platforms which could be equally important.

Some 26 of the world’s largest mobile operators, OEMs, chipset, module and infrastructure companies are working to create Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) solutions in licensed spectrum that are designed specifically for Internet of Things apps.

That is a bit of a shift. In the past, many had believed LPWA would make use of unlicensed spectrum at 433MHz, 868MHz, or 2.4GHz.

That could still happen, but the new initiative aimed at licensed spectrum suggests carriers believe they need the platform, and also need the additional assurance of a controlled spectrum environment, or that they believe global harmonization cannot happen fast enough to support mass deployment.

If commercial deployment is expected in 2016, it is likely the latter concern is the biggest driver: carriers think there is time pressure, and use of existing licensed spectrum eliminates the “wait for standards and spectrum harmonization.”

By using existing licensed spectrum, commercial deployment could begin without hinderance.

It is expected that initial specifications for LPWA solutions will be completed by the end of 2015, with a first implementation in early 2016 and full commercial solutions following later in the year.

LPWA networks are designed for machine-to-machine (M2M) applications that have low data rates, long battery lives and that operate unattended for long periods of time.

The initiative will focus on three proposed licensed 3GPP standards: LTE Evolutions, GSM evolutions and Clean Slate technologies.

LPWA technologies in licensed spectrum can be deployed in a simplified and cost-effective manner, without sacrificing key customer requirements, such as battery lifetime and security, the GSMA argues.

The initiative is backed by AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, Bell Canada, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Etisalat, Huawei, Gemalto, Intel, KDDI, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Ooredoo, Orange, Qualcomm Incorporated, Sierra Wireless, Singtel, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, u-blox and Vodafone.

Such LPWA platforms will support low cost communications modules and supporting networks, potentially allowing for wide area coverage to be added to a device for US$1 incremental bill of materials cost, according to Machina Research.

LPWA will be designed to support low bandwidth communications often consisting of just a hundred or so bytes of information, featuring long battery lives (often up to 10 years from a single AA cell) and wide area coverage (countrywide in the case of some technologies, ‘campus-wide’ in the case of others).

It remains difficult to estimate the revenue or strategic opportunity for mobile service providers. Some have estimated incremental service revenues (access) at about $10 billion annually, for the whole global market.

That in itself would not be an unusually interesting opportunity. More important are the additional  businesses to be built offering the services to various enterprise, industrial and government verticals.