US provider Verizon has launched the world's first Cat1 LTE network for IoT devices that were originally designed for 2G networks, which are increasingly being sunsetted in favour of their 4G (or LTE) counterparts. The new network is to service low-bandwidth low-power solutions, such as embedded monitoring systems, or household devices that only need to "call-home" once or twice a day. In addition to providing faster speeds and more reliable connections than its predecessors, Verizon's 5GHz network, called "5G," will also support advanced features like beamforming and 4x4 MIMO (multiple input
US provider Verizon has launched the world's first Cat1 LTE network for IoT devices that were originally designed for 2G networks, which are increasingly being sunsetted in favour of their 4G (or LTE) counterparts. The new network is to service low-bandwidth low-power solutions, such as embedded monitoring systems, or household devices that only need to "call-home" once or twice a day. Past studies have shown that with the growth of the IoT, the demand for low-power 2G networks for M2M communication will remain high, but it remains to be seen whether providers and regulators will provide coverage for the service.