Verizon Seems to Target U.S. for IoT

Sometimes a service provider’s choice of an air interface can indicate which markets it intends to target. Verizon, for example, is touting its  Cat Mi LTE platform for internet of things connectivity. In Europe, narrowband LTE is the preferred mobile IoT platform, where it or Sigfox and LoRa are not seen as the solution.

Specs	LTE Cat 1	LTE Cat 0	LTE Cat M1 (eMTC)	LTE Cat NB1 (NB-IoT)
3GPP Release	Release 8	Release 12	Release 13	Release 13
Downlink Peak Rate	10 Mbps	1 Mbps	1 Mbps	250 kbps
Uplink Peak Rate	5 Mbps	1 Mbps	1 Mbps	250 kbps (multi-tone) 20 kbps (single-tone)
Number of Antennas	2	1	1	1
Duplex Mode	Full Duplex	Full or Half Duplex	Full or Half Duplex	Half Duplex
Device Receive Bandwidth	1.08 - 18 MHz	1.08 - 18 MHz	1.08 MHz	180 kHz
Receiver Chains	2 (MIMO)	1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)
Device Transmit Power	23 dBm	23 dBm	20 / 23 dBm	20 / 23 dBm

So one might suggest that Verizon plans to concentrate its IoT efforts in the United States, not international markets. That would be consistent with Verizon’s existing strategy, which is U.S.-centric, compared to AT&T, which already has entered the Mexico mobile market, and many South American video markets.