Dutch telecoms giant KPN has announced that it has activated its new LTE-M (Cat-M1) IoT network at several locations in The Hague and Rotterdam. According to the telco, LTE-M technology will be rolled out across its existing 4G network, and will be made available throughout the Netherlands during the first quarter of 2018.
Sticking with the Netherlands, Vodafone is expected to begin rolling out its own LTE-M network on a nationwide basis in 2Q18. According to an unconfirmed report by Dutch news site Telecompaper, the cellco has already activated LTE-M antennas in Amsterdam and Maastricht, and will conduct ‘friendly user trials’ during its pilot phase in Q1 2018.
Over in Latin America, AT&T Mexico launched its own commercial LTE-M network on 21 December 2017. The launch follows on from LTE-M pilots in Tijuana and Puebla in the third quarter of 2017, and brings the Mexican unit in line with its US sister company.
In Oman meanwhile, Ooredoo has signed an agreement with the National Electricity Centre (NEC) to build a smart network using LoRaWAN technology. The telco says that the network – which is planned for completion in Q1 2018 – will ‘facilitate the seamless convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), micro services and the internet’. The new network will be powered by technology sourced from Sagemcom.
Ooredoo has also been active in the Maldives, where its local operating subsidiary has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Communications Transformation Services Limited (TCTSL) ‘to explore the development of IoT solutions for the island nation and help build momentum for digital initiatives in the region’.
Finally, Singtel, Singapore’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has announced that it will deploy smart electric meters in the city state following trials of the units on its LTE-M network. The operator has teamed with smart meter vendor EDMI to trial and deploy the network. Singtel, which already provides M2M connectivity for EDMI’s digital electric meters in Singapore, said it is working with the company to offer IoT-driven metering services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the second half of 2018, in line with Energy Market Authority plans.
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