IoT network company Senet inked a deal to deploy low power wide area (LPWA) network connectivity for regional US operator Inland Cellular.
The partnership will allow Inland Cellular to offer connectivity using LoRa technology across its coverage area in Southeast Washington and North Central Idaho using Senet’s radio access network operator services. Senet noted the deployment will help Inland Cellular serve a range of IoT use cases, including tank monitoring, water metering and management, smart agriculture and smart cities.
Inland Cellular’s director of business strategy Chip Damato said in a statement the deal with Senet will give the operator a “first mover advantage” and help it become more competitive.
He added the move will aid Inland Cellular’s efforts to rapidly scale its IoT brand by opening the door to new opportunities.
In a recent interview with Mobile World Live, Competitive Carriers Association CEO Steven Berry said the IoT presents a number of revenue opportunities for small and rural operators, because rural areas are home to a large number of manufacturing and farming operations.
“That’s one of the strengths small carriers want to build into their network. What we’re seeing is things like precision agriculture, bringing broadband connectivity to a lot of these massive combine harvesters that are being rolled out,” he said.
“Rural America [is] going to be one of the greatest benefactors of 5G [and IoT] type services.”
LoRa is a proprietary LPWA technology which uses unlicensed spectrum. It is a rival to three 3GPP-licensed LPWA technologies: NB-IoT, EC-GSM-IOT and LTE-M.
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