What’s so special about 5G and IoT

Forget 5G. IoT networks are just getting started with LTE

The hype around 5G and its relation to the IoT (Internet of Things) industry has been growing exponentially since its initial launch in 2012. So far, numerous telecoms have promised that 5G will be the next-generation mobile network that provides everything from superfast bandwidth speeds, to ultra-low latency, to ten-times the geographic coverage.

Cellular network providers just recently launch Cat-M1, an LTE network / chipset that is designed for IoT applications. According to Verizon, Cat-M1 consumes less power, comes with an improved battery, and supports everything from water monitoring systems, to asset trackers, and consumer electronics. However, Verizon just launched Cat-M1 in 2017, and IoT platforms are just beginning to offer Cat-M1 as a cellular offering.

Which may cause you to ask, “why is LTE just becoming a reality for IoT applications?” Well, you should know the LTE you use on your phone is not the same LTE that is used for IoT networks. Verizon rolled out LTE voice (VoLTE) in 2014, but didn’t announce LTE for IoT (Cat-M1) until July 2017. VoLTE technology supports voice calls over an LTE network, while Cat-M1 technology allows you to connect M2M machines over an LTE network.

And even after Cat-M1 was finally released, cellular and wireless chip providers needed time to implement Cat-M1 into modules that could be used for IoT applications. Once wireless chip providers created and offered cellular modules (like U-Blox’s SARA-R410M) that supported LTE-M networks, IoT platform providers finally had the chips they needed to integrate LTE into their cellular offerings.

The future of LTE

The LTE + IoT road doesn’t end here either. Narrowband IoT (Cat-NB1) is a proposed Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technology that is designed to work anywhere and can connect low-power devices to the mobile network. Cat-NB1 is optimized to handle infrequent data transfers, which makes it ideal for devices that are deployed in remote locations and only need to transfer data every so often. North America and Europe are both currently working on deploying Cat-NB1 networks, with some already being released. This just goes to show that LTE solutions for IoT are still being developed and will continued to be improved upon over time.

Why are we skipping LTE for 5G?

If we think about our current needs for IoT, what we care about are three things: price, coverage, and lower power consumption. But 5G is focused on increasing bandwidth, and while increased data transfer and speeds are nice, they are not entirely necessary for IoT products. The GSMA outlines 5G will possibly offer 1000x bandwidth per unit area. However, as they state in their own report, bandwidth per unit area is not dependent upon 5G, but more devices connecting with higher bandwidths for longer durations.