GSMA Focused on Low-Power Wide Area Networks for IoT

Low-power wide area (LPWA) networks will play a big role in the IoT, and the mobile industry is standardizing a new class of GSM technologies to support them, the GSM Association said Thursday in a Q&A. LPWA networks “will support devices requiring low mobility, low power consumption, long range, low cost and security,” the GSMA said. They will play a key role connecting the billions of new devices making up the IoT, the group said. “LPWA technologies are expected to serve a diverse range of vertical industries and support a range of applications and deployment scenarios, which existing mobile technologies may not currently be best placed to connect.” Among the necessary attributes, LPWA solutions must use minimal power -- “a battery life in excess of 10 years,” the group said. Some applications must be optimized for brief messages, about the length of a text message, have a very low device unit cost -- a few dollars for many devices, and “have good coverage outdoors and indoors, enabling connectivity in rural and underground locations,” GSMA said.