NB-IoT will complement existing LTE Cat 1 and Cat M1 network support
The internet of things (IoT) consists of a huge variety of use cases that come with a widely varying set of network capacity and coverage needs. To address this large market, operators around the world are providing low-power, wide-area coverage with both LTE-based IoT networks and narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) networks, which uses a 180 kilohertz channel to provide peak downlink throughput int he 50 Kbps range.
Verizon already offers LTE Cat M and Cat M1 services, and now, according to the company, it will deploy a nationwide NB-IoT guard band network throughout 2018. Narrowband-IoT can be deployed in-band within an LTE carrier, standalone or in the guard-band of an LTE network, which limits impact the LTE and doesn’t require any new spectrum.
Verizon noted LTE Cat M 1 supports applications like “wearables, fleet and asset management, NB-IoT guard-band focuses on applications needing data rates below 100 Kbps.”
