Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 34 | Page 17

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// TRENDING WBA AND LORA ALLIANCE EXPLORE USE CASES INCORPORATING WI-FI AND LORAWAN TECHNOLOGIES Mobile operators, enterprises, cities and other key Internet of Things (IoT) market players gain access to a wealth of new IoT use cases by combining two unlicensed connectivity technologies, as illustrated in a new white paper released by the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA). D eveloped with input from mobile carriers, telecom equipment manufacturers and advocates of both connectivity technologies, Wi-Fi & LoRaWAN Deployment Synergies: Expanding Addressable Use Cases For The Internet of Things illustrates new business opportunities that are created when Wi-Fi networks that are traditionally built to support critical IoT are merged with LoRaWAN networks that are traditionally built to support low data rate massive IoT applications. Massive IoT applications are less latency sensitive and have relatively low throughput requirements, but they require a huge volume www.intelligentcio.com of low-cost, low-energy consumption devices on a network with excellent coverage, which can be achieved with Wi-Fi networks. The white paper addresses the growing popularity of IoT use cases in domains that rely on connectivity spanning large areas that are able to handle a huge number of connections, ultimately driving the demand for massive IoT technologies. According to the paper, Wi-Fi connectivity covers short and medium-range use cases at high data rates and may require more power, making it the preferable technology for people-centric mains- “ THE PAPER RECOMMENDS DEPLOYING LORAWAN PICOCELLS THAT LEVERAGE WI-FI BACKHAUL TO THE USER SET TOP BOX TO EXPAND COVERAGE OF HOME SERVICES TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. INTELLIGENTCIO 17