South Korean operator KT and Nokia Networks are to launch a trial of M2M over LTE by Q4 2015, as the two companies also confirmed the creation of an IoT lab.

They claimed the LTE-M trial will be a world first when it starts later this year.

While M2M volumes will be dominated by 2G and 3G, 4G will represent the fastest growing part of the market, according to Nokia.

The Finnish vendor believes at a retail cost below $10, LTE modules could take share from other cellular standards and wireless sensor networks, such as Zigbee, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

However, low-cost and low-power LTE-M modules will primarily be targeted at the smart meter market, it said.

In terms of other vendor predictions on LTE-M, Huawei recently mooted a commercial launch of LTE-M by next year.

KT and Nokia also confirmed an earlier announcement that they have launched Korea’s first IoT lab. The original MoU was signed back at Mobile World Congress 2015.

The new facility is designed to encourage IoT take-up by verifying potential devices to be used on Nokia’s infrastructure.

The lab should also help Korean companies enter global markets using Nokia Networks’ business channels.  And the initiative includes a competition intended to drive take-up of IoT.

The lab is particularly targeted at Korea’s small and medium enterprises who the partners hope to educate about the benefits of IoT.