Bouygues Telecom will launch France’s first internet of things (IoT) network in June, based on low-power, long range (LoRa) technology.
Bouygues said the flexibility of LoRa, a form of low-power wide-area (LPWA) technology, made it ideal for IoT networks by allowing connected devices to share data packets over a wide area at minimal power consumption.
LoRA offers excellent in-building penetration, secure, bi-directional communications and autonomy of up to 10 years with standard batteries, the operator claimed, making it suitable for applications in smart cities, smart metering, logistics and eHealth.
Following successful trials in Grenoble, Bouygues said it was pushing on with a commercial rollout of the LoRa-based IoT network in collaboration with semiconductor supplier Semtech.
The network will initially be rolled out in Issy-les-Moulineaux and “a part of Paris”, followed by approximately 500 towns and cities including Marseille, Lyon, Nice, Rennes, Nantes and Montpellier from the end of the year.
Olivier Roussat, Chairman and CEO of Bouygues Telecom, said: “The Internet of Things is going to transform entire areas of our economy. Thanks to the expertise and the infrastructures of Bouygues Telecom, we will be able to quickly offer nationwide coverage with a high-quality service.”
Bouygues, which helped establish the LoRa Alliance at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, claimed KPN, Swisscom, Belgacom and Fastnet were also in the process of trialling or deploying LoRa networks.
Alain Dantec, SVP and General Manager of Semtech, said: “The pilot scheme carried out with Bouygues Telecom is a world first that has enabled us to improve LoRa protocols further. Its long-standing involvement in the development of our technology and its ceaseless work to improve it within the LoRa Alliance has made Bouygues Telecom one of the world’s leading experts in IoT technology.
“We are now impatient to rise to the challenges of its future customers within the framework of their network roll-out.”
In Portugal, Narrownet revealed it was deploying Sigfox’s IoT network in the country to enable new applications and services.
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