ThingPark China, a provider of low power wide area (LPWA) IoT platforms based on LoRa technology, opened an IoT Ecosystem Lab in Beijing to enable device makers and app providers to test their IoT products.

Companies can use self-testing tools for devices on China’s LoRa frequency bands using a software as a service (SaaS) platform. Device makers and app developers can also prepare for international distribution by testing against European, APAC and US channel plans.

LoRa and rival LPWA technologies including Sigfox and RPMA (from Ingenu) use unlicensed spectrum, unlike 3GPP-licensed LPWA technologies NB-IoT, EC-GSM-IOT and LTE-M.

In a statement, ThingPark China said it is also opening an online marketplace in China to help local IoT device and app providers to monetise services with a user experience optimised for Chinese business customers.

Bing Liu, CEO of ThingPark China, said: “Our Ecosystem Lab and China Market will help accelerate growth of LoRaWAN-based IoT in China by supporting the local ecosystem at every stage, from developing and testing products to distributing solutions to local customers and taking them to market worldwide.”