U.K. Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city operator Connexin announced that it will expand its IoT network nationwide, providing carrier-grade roaming long range wide area networks (LoRaWAN) connectivity and infrastructure to customers all over the U.K.
“With a low cost wide-area networking solution becoming available to all organizations across the UK, it opens up opportunities for those looking to deploy IoT solutions for a fraction of the cost of existing cellular infrastructure solutions,” said Furqan Alamgir, CEO of Connexin. “Not only does this promote the development of new IoT-based technology but it allows existing solutions to be rolled-out nationwide to encourage further adoption and will allow more people to utilize and benefit from affordable, carrier-grade IoT connectivity.”
Connexin currently has regional LoRaWAN networks in place in East and South Yorkshire following deployments in Sheffield with Amey and Yorkshire Water, Hull with Hull City Council and the South Coast with Icosa Water.
“Regionally, we have seen our network used by a variety of sectors and individuals from entrepreneurs and innovation centers to the utility, private and public sectors and have seen continued success with the likes of Amey in Sheffield and Yorkshire Water. These results have demonstrated the effectiveness of low powered networks across multiple use cases and we’re excited to be providing carrier-grade networks now across the entire UK,” Alamgir added.
Donna Moore, CEO of the LoRa Alliance said: “This is a significant achievement for IoT in the UK that will open up tremendous business opportunity and deliver new service offerings that will improve the lives of customers in this market.”
Connexin also announced that the firm has been awarded a recent tender by Newcastle University‘s Urban Observatory to deploy a LoRaWAN network in Newcastle.
Having worked with Connexin previously on the “smartest street” project in 2017 the deployment of a LoRaWAN network in Newcastle upon Tyne supports researchers at the Urban Observatory and their partners to better understand how the city system functions and how different parameters interact such as green spaces, flooding and traffic congestion.
The Urban Observatory is the UK’s largest urban experiment collecting data about 60 different urban indicators, from energy use, rainfall and flooding to air pollution, traffic flow, noise and social media activity.
The Urban Observatory team plan to use the new network to support research on urban flooding with real-time forecasting and digital twins, gain insights into the impact of COVID measures through people counting and active travel monitoring as well as track indictors for climate and the city’s net zero target.
“The LoRaWan deployment will allow the Urban Observatory to deploy further sensors across the city, collecting useful data to inform Council and individual decision making. We hope the network will also be used by local SMEs as a platform for trialling technology and developing new products,” Ged Bell, Newcastle City Council cabinet member for Employment and Culture, said.
