Vodacom, working with Huawei, has launched its first Internet of things site using narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology.
An existing 4G/LTE site was upgraded to support NB-IoT, using software only. The site is fully compliant with the standardised 3GPP NB-IoT specifications, Vodacom said.
The live site is on the roof of the data centre on Vodacom’s sprawling campus in Midrand, north of Johannesburg.
Late last year, both Vodacom and rival MTN announced plans to deploy commercial NB-IoT networks in South Africa in 2017. Both companies used the AfricaCom conference in Cape Town to showcase the technology.
A range of IoT networks are being built in South Africa using different technologies.
Dark Fibre Africa subsidiary SqwidNet is deploying a national network using technology developed by France’s Sigfox.
Vula Investments subsidiary Vula Telematix, meanwhile, is building a network using technology from US IoT specialist Ingenu (formerly On-Ramp Wireless).
NB-IoT, favoured by the mobile operators, is a low-power, wide-area network (LPWA) technology that allows for new use cases for IoT solutions, Vodacom said.
“LPWA networks are able to communicate to devices where radio penetration has traditionally not been feasible and with a low power overhead in the communications process,” it said.
“A key characteristic of LPWA devices is power efficiency, resulting in devices being deployed in field with batteries that could last up to many years.”
Vodacom’s NB-IoT network runs on existing licensed spectrum, ensuring integrity of the communications channel as well as the delivery of data from the device to the end point, the company added.
The network uses Vodacom’s licensed 900MHz spectrum to maximise signal strength and coverage.
“A large portion of our network will only require a software upgrade to support the roll-out of this technology, which means that deploying NB-IoT further across Vodacom’s existing base stations will be relatively quick driven by demand across wide geographic areas,” said group chief technology officer Andries Delport in a statement.
“We have managed to launch new technologies such as NB-IoT despite the severe constraints on spectrum we are facing, particularly with respect to access to additional sub 1GHz spectrum to support mobile broadband.”
Wider roll-out of Vodacom’s NB-IoT network is already in progress, and will be opened to commercial customer traffic soon, Delport siad.
Vodacom and Huawei have launched an NB-IoT water metering solution on Vodacom’s campus to test the technology. The solution allows for the automation of accurate water meter readings, for real-time monitoring of water usage on Vodacom’s campus, and the detection of leaks.
The water meter used for the demonstration supplies water to one of the main buildings on Vodacom’s campus and is connected to Vodacom’s NB-IoT network with an embedded NB-IoT module. The module transmits data at regular intervals back to the water meter application running on its NB-IoT application platform. — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media
