SK Telecom Sees Low Cost as Key Advantage of IoT Network

SK Telecom is spending 100 billion Korean won ($89 million) on a nationwide Internet of Things network, platform and apps development between now and the end of 2017.

SK Telecom sees both LTE and LoRaWAN as necessary platforms for Internet of Things and machine-to-machine services and applications, in large part because the IoT network is expected to require extremely low cost and measures to radically extend battery life of devices and sensors using the network.

In broad terms, LTE is seen as supporting mobile apps, while LoRaWAN is seen as the network for fixed sensors and devices.

PricePlan	Data Allowance* (Frequency of communication)	Monthly Flat Rate (VAT Excluded)	Examples of Services	Note
BandIoT35	100KB	KRW 350	Metering and monitoring services (e.g. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), environmental monitoring, water leakage monitoring, etc.)	- Discount benefits for long-term contracts: Ranging from a 5% discount for two-year contracts to a 20% discount for 5 year-contracts - Multi-line discount: Ranging from a 2% discount for those using 500 lines to a 10% discount to those who use 10,000 lines
BandIoT50	500KB	KRW 500
BandIoT70	3MB	KRW 700	Tracking services (e.g. locating tracking For people/things, asset management, etc.)
BandIoT100	10MB	KRW 1,000
Band IoT150	50MB	KRW 1,500	Control service (e.g. safety management, lighting control, shared parking, etc.)
BandIoT200	100MB	KRW 2,000

source: SK Telecom

LoRaWAN, backed by the global LoRa Alliance, is optimized for low bandwidth and long-life devices. SK Telecom also sees the advantage of lower prices.

LoRa prices are around a tenth of those on SK Telecom’s national LTE-M network.

SKT has also developed an M2M-based platform, ThingPlug, and is working on utility metering, location tracking and monitoring services.