Ericsson, Orange unite to trial IoT over LTE/GSM

Cellular IoT networks could be the answer to speed up smart deployments by taking advantage of existing infrastructure.

With this in mind, Ericsson and Orange have joined forces to improve indoor coverage, reduce IoT device cost and extend battery life though the use of GSM and LTE.

Cellular network and device capability enhancements are being driven through the standardisation process at 3GPP to meet emerging requirements of ubiquitous coverage, long battery life and low-cost devices, enabled through software upgrades of existing networks.

As Ericsson predicts 28 billion connected devices by 2021, the companies claim they will be conducting the world-first EC-GSM (Extended Coverage) trial in France using the 900 MHz band.

They aim to enhance device reachability by up to 20dB or a seven-fold improvement in the range of low-rate applications.