\tVerizon became the third US operator to launch an NB-IoT network, albeit some five months later than expected.<\/p>\n
Though the operator unveiled plans in February 2018 to launch a nationwide NB-IoT network by the year-end, an announcement never materialised. T-Mobile US beat it to the punch [1] in July 2018, while AT&T followed with its own launch [2] last month.<\/p>\n
Verizon said the network it launched this week covers 92 per cent of the US population.<\/p>\n
All three operators opted to use guard band spectrum, meaning the NB-IoT networks don\u2019t share spectrum with smartphone traffic.<\/p>\n
Guard bands are fallow gaps of spectrum left between radio frequencies to prevent interference.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Verizon VP of technology development and planning Bill Stone said the decision to use guard band airwaves was a \u201cstrategic\u201d move to make the most efficient use of its spectrum assets.<\/p>\n
Verizon has had LTE-M service up and running since March 2017 and added voice service [3] to that network in August 2018. But it said its new NB-IoT infrastructure is designed for a different class<\/a> of IoT devices, for example stationary sensors, which have lower bandwidth needs.<\/p>\n Developers will have access to equipment from Telit, SIM-COM and Quectel Wireless Solutions, which are currently in the final stages of testing modules for the network.<\/p>\n An initial NB-IoT tariff will offer 50KB of data for $1 per month\/device. The data allowance will be sharable with other devices on an account which use the same price plan.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/home-banner\/t-mobile-us-ups-ante-with-nb-iot-launch\/ Verizon became the third US operator to launch an NB-IoT network, albeit some five months …<\/p>\n The post Verizon joins rivals in NB-IoT battle<\/a> appeared first on Mobile World Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n[2] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/att-enters-nb-iot-fray\/
\n[3] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/verizon-adds-voice-to-lte-m-network\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"