If it wasn’t already completely obvious to everyone, the IoT is perhaps the most international of industries and certainly is not being lead by the western world. In fact, China and India are clearly miles ahead of the rest of the world, and with this announcement, Japan is making strides, too.
Semtech Corporation, a producer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, has announced that its LoRa wireless RF technology will be featured in a new low power, wide area network (LPWAN) in Japan, to be deployed by regional telecom carrier Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West (NTT (News - Alert) West) in the Kansai area. It will be used to field test a wide range of IoT applications like smart metering and agriculture, system monitoring of networks and equipment, asset and people tracking and environmental warning systems.
The purpose of the field trial is to test the commercial feasibility of various IoT use cases on NTT West’s LoRaWAN-based LPWAN. Participants selected for inclusion in the field trial will be able to deploy and test their applications on the NTT West network. Participants in the field trials will use sensors and data aggregation services from members of the LoRa Alliance to ensure they are LoRaWAN-compliant. Another goal of the trial program is to solicit feedback from participating companies through information sharing sessions, meetings and surveys.
“We are excited to launch our new LPWAN for field testing so that we can validate various use cases for our network and collect valuable information we can use to enhance our IoT offerings,” said Shigenori HORI, senior manager, business design department, NTT West. “After careful research, we chose a LoRaWAN-based network platform because it offered a large ecosystem of open standards-based solutions through the LoRa Alliance, while also providing the long range and low power requirements our customers need at a low cost. Now that we have launched the field trials, we are looking forward to seeing and sharing the results.”
The LoRa Alliance, which was launched in March 2015, is a group of over 300 companies committed to driving and enhancing the LoRaWAN specification to ensure interoperability and scalability of LPWANs and IoT applications.
“It’s great to see a carrier like NTT West play a leadership role in deploying and testing a LPWAN for IoT applications in Japan,” said Marc Pegulu, VP and GM, Wireless and Sensing Product Group, Semtech. “We are looking forward to seeing the various IoT use cases that will be enabled by this network. We are also pleased that after reviewing several solutions, they chose a network based on the LoRaWAN specification, which, through the LoRa Alliance, is quickly becoming a global standard for IoT applications requiring long range, low power and low cost.”
The NTT field trial period began at the end of June 2016 and will continue through February 2017. To participate in the field trials, companies can submit applications here.