Businesses and global brands can look forward to an expanded lineup of network offerings with the collaboration between Verizon and Ericsson having completed their initial Narrowband IoT Guard band data session. The trials used the latest Massive Internet of Things Ericsson software on Verizon’s 4G LTE network.
Nationwide deployment of Verizon’s Narrowband IoT Guard band network will be fully complete across Verizon’s nationwide network covering 2.56 million square miles this year.
Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is a technology providing scale, coverage and security for customers seeking scalable and cost effective wireless access solutions for IoT. Verizon maintains a strong leadership position in IoT technology and solutions with a history of firsts, including the first nationwide deployment of 4G LTE, LTE Cat 1, and LTE Cat M1 networks.
While CAT-M1 is targeting a range of applications for business customers such as wearables, fleet and asset management, NB-IoT Guard band focuses on applications needing data rates below 100 kbps. NB-IoT Guard band technology occupies a dedicated frequency of 180 kHz bandwidth designated for IoT applications which does not share spectrum resources with commercial smartphone traffic.
“We are committed to providing more customer options to the IoT ecosystem by leading with new technologies and capabilities such as NB-IoT Guard band that efficiently use dedicated spectrum and target different customer requirements for throughput and battery life,” said Bill Stone, Vice President – Network Planning at Verizon.
“The IoT ecosystem has tremendous potential for further growth and development,” said Kevin Zvokel, Head of Networks for Ericsson in North America. “With our IoT commercial software in combination with Verizon’s network, we are pleased to pave the way for future growth in this important segment.”
