INTERNET OF THINGS
Narrowband technology will be for IoT what 4G was for mobile connectivity
By Deon Liebenberg , Vodacom Managing Executive for the Internet of Things
2016 was a landmark year in the South African Internet of Things ( IoT ) space , with several organisations announcing plans to build Low Power Wide Area Network ( LPWAN ) capabilities .
The previous 20 years of technological development was all about telecoms companies building infrastructure and networks for people to communicate – we are now moving into the era of building infrastructure for “ things ” to communicate .
In the past , ecosystems and the Internet were built for people : we are now building and orchestrating an entire new ecosystem for things , to improve human lives .
Narrow Band IoT ( NB-IoT ) is a term for an LPWAN developed to enable a range of new devices and services . With NB-IoT , we address the need for low-power and increased-penetration applications that have historically not been served by cellular connectivity .