Global network lte-m roaming

With the agreement, the possibilities of IoT for the business sector are increasing enormously, for example in cross-border logistics processes, such as sea or air transport. LTE-M can track moving objects, such as cargo, real-time. Thanks to this roaming agreement, customers of both providers will soon be able to use each other’s LTE-M network.

In 2018 a huge acceleration in the demand for IoT has been observed. Thanks to this roaming agreement, the available IoT network will only grow.

John van Vianen, director of the business market VodafoneZiggo:

“Connectivity must work worldwide so that our customers have the freedom to optimize their business with IoT. We are working hard on these kinds of initiatives in order to optimally meet the needs of our customers.

KPN, Orange, Swisscom and AT&T have activated LTE-M roaming. LTE-M or ‘Long Term Evolution for Machines’ is a cellular low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technology and standard for Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Thanks to LTE-M roaming, LTE-M IoT devices can operate across the different networks of operators. Customers are asking for LTE-M roaming and for operators offering ITE-M roaming there’s obviously a competitive – temporary – advantage as they have an additional argument in the shape of the broader network capability as such with room to increase revenue and an impact on use cases for which they can provide support. LPWAN is the fastest-growing category of IoT connectivity (also in Industrial IoT and applications requiring wireless IoT connectivity across several Industry 4.0 use cases).