NB-IOT is more than just hype. NB-IOT functionality will enable mobile operators’ drive toward 4.5G and 5G networks that will support connections for billions of IoT devices. While the term is pervasive in industry news coverage and company press releases, it is also rapidly becoming a reality. At the end of June, 3GPP announced that it had completed the standardization of NB-IOT technology – a mere nine months after the study phase. NB-IOT is now implemented as a feature into 3GPP Release 13 with only backward-compatible changes allowed moving forward.
A recent report by ABI Research back up the industry demand for this feature, predicting NB-IOT will account for 70% of Release 13 shipments by 2021. Mobile operators around the world have already announced pre-standard NB-IOT trials and some companies are planning to commercially launch NB-IOT by the end of 2016. The majority of global deployments will start in 2017.
At Radisys, we recognize the huge impact that this technology will have on our industry as mobile operators seek to meet IoT wireless connectivity requirements for low throughput and long battery life. In a recent blog post, we covered how Radisys’ solutions are ripe for the IOT market. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about NB-IOT.
