Today had some good news for Internet of Things (IoT) networking in Finland: There will be real competition in both technologies and business models.
The news tells that company Connected Finland has received enough money (at the moment million Euros) to build national IoT network using Sigfox technology – so becomes the first nationwide IoT-operator in Finland that uses this kind of technology. SIGFOX technology is designed for small messages sent every now and then so it is ideal for meters and sensors. The messages are 12 bytes long and they are allowed to be sent once in 10 minutes. The network in Filand operates at license-free 868 MHz frequency range. The system had at rural areas more than 200 kilometers of range and offers 10 years battery life for IoT devices.
Sigfox network in Finland already covers 40 per cent of the Finnish population (largest concentrations in Southern Finland) and commercial use is scheduled to open in the second half of September. Prices are still on the drawing board (some quesses I have see are in range few euros per device per year, Sigfox charges “$1 per device per year). Sigfox is internationally used: The world’s largest Sigfox client is Veri Sure Securitas Direct with over a million intrusion protection systems that use Sigfox+3G. There is a ready-made modules that can be used to connect different devices to Sigfox network (for example Raspberry Pi and Arduino shields).
This new network is not the only possible IoT network in Finland. There is also competing LoRa IoT networking technology available in Finland from Espotel ja Digita. LoRaWAN™ is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) specification intended for wireless battery operated Things in regional, national or global network. LoRa networks also operate in Finland at license free 868 MHz frequency band. For comparison between Sigfox and LoRa, read SigFox Vs. LoRa: A Comparison Between Technologies & Business Models article.
Mobile networks and private networks M2M-machine connections are widely used in Finland for many applications – including IoT applications.
So now we have LoRa, Sigfox and mobile phone networks to choose from. What is best depends on the needs of your application.
Sources:
http://www.link-labs.com/sigfox-vs-lora/
https://www.lora-alliance.org/What-Is-LoRa/Technology
http://www.connectedfinland.fi/
http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/09/02/uuden-iot-verkon-tulo-suomeen-varmistui/
8 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kotimaisen IoT-verkon tukiasema kantaa 200 kilometriä
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4971:kotimaisen-iot-verkon-tukiasema-kantaa-200-kilometria&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Suomeen tulee esineiden oma mobiiliverkko
http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4965:suomeen-tulee-esineiden-oma-mobiiliverkko&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows for LoRa, Sigfox Narrowing?
In the Sequans CEO’s opinion, the story of cellular IoT when compared to LoRa, Sigfox (non-cellular IoT networks using an unlicensed spectrum) is simple. “LoRa, for example, can be used for private, local applications, such as a campus-wide IoT service,” he explained. “But when it comes to more sophisticated, nation-wide, carrier-grade IoT services, you do need CAT-M1/NB-1 networks. The window of market opportunities for LoRa and Sigfox is narrowing.”
Asked about advantages of M1 and NB1, IHS’ Lucero said, “3GPP global ecosystem supply and support, rapidly expanding global coverage footprint, connectivity using secure, licensed spectrum.”
Lucero summarized the prospects for proprietary low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) vendors: “LoRa is immediately available for private network implementation (though Huawei has a solution coming to market for this using NB1 in unlicensed spectrum), for some specific applications. Sigfox may provide the absolute lowest power consumption/longest battery life.”
ABI’s Shey believes the biggest challenge for cellular network operators is what to charge for a LTE Cat M1 or NB1 connections. “The Ingenu’s, SigFox’s and other proprietary LPWA vendors overall have a very low network cost structure — basically only focused on thing connections — so can charge very low rates for a connection,” he argued.
Source: http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1330407&page_number=3
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digita plans to build the whole of Finland covering Lora sensor network
Digita is planning to build a nationwide Internet of Things (IoT) enabling Lora network during the autumn of 2016. The company’s existing antenna mast allows coverage to be achieved quickly.
The entire Finnish comprehensive IoT network can be used, for example, a wide range of building automation solutions and an intelligent traffic. Digita’s estimated that in 2023 in Finland could already be measured and directed the daily life more convenient for almost 20 million IoT sensor.
“For example, VVO Group takes care of its inhabitants living comfort and health of the buildings in such a way that, on the basis of network-mediated data, housing conditions can be adjusted automatically,” says Digita Chief Operating Officer Markus Hautala Lower IoT network access.
Company searches IoT deployments of new growth area alongside existing operations.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/10/05/digita-rakentaa-koko-suomen-kattavan-lora-anturiverkon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2016/10/06/protokortti-lora-anturiverkkoihin/
Tomi Engdahl says:
LoRaWAN
http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/wireless-connectivity/lorawan.html?querycriteria=productId=SC2150&icmp=tt4099_cc_bn_sep2016
LoRa is a wireless communication technology developed to create the low-power, wide-area networks (LPWANs) required for machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
Key features of LoRa technology:
Long range: >15 km / 9 mi range
Low-power: 5-10 year expected battery lifetime
Low-cost: from end-node sensor cost to upfront infrastructure investment
Secure: with embedded end-to-end AES-128 encryption of data
Geolocation: enables indoor/outdoor tracking without GPS
LoRaWAN™ is a global LPWAN specification created by the LoRa Alliance™ to drive a single standard for seamless interoperability across the industry. LoRa technology is ideally suited for the applications
Tomi Engdahl says:
Semtech SX1276 LoRa™ mbed™ Enabled Shields
http://www.mouser.fi/new/semtech/semtech-sx1276-mbed-shields/
Semtech SX1276 LoRa™ mbed™ Enabled Shields combine the Semtech SX1276 Low Power Long Range Transceiver with the ARM mbed™ Internet of Things (IoT) Device Platform. These tools give developers source code to enable RF tests, simple point-to-point communication, and device compatibility. The mbed shields plug into mbed microcontroller development platforms from STMicroelectronics, NXP, and others.
The SX1276MB1LAS is designed around the ISM frequency bands 433MHz and 915MHz for use in North America. The SX1276MB1MAS is designed around ISM frequency bands 433MHz and 868MHz for use in Europe and China. The connections are identical on each board so that the same software and hardware can be used with either.
Features
Semtech SX1276 LoRa Transceiver
10Mbps SPI bus controlled
Pin-to-pin compatibility
Works with various mbed microcontroller development platforms
433MHz/915MHz (SX1276MB1LAS)
433MHz 868MHz (SX1276MB1MAS)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Read my articles on LoRa and Sigfox:
LoRa for IoT
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2017/03/24/lora-for-iot/
Sigfox for IoT
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2017/03/13/sigfox-for-iot/