Orange has announced the commercial launch of its Long Term Evolution for Machines (LTE‑M) network in France, following the introduction of its first LTE‑M network in Belgium in May 2018.
These rollouts reflect Orange’s ongoing commitment to the Internet of Things (IoT) market and its strategy to offer LTE‑M alongside LoRa as the primary IoT connectivity technologies across its European operations. Orange also indicated plans to deploy LTE‑M networks in Spain and Romania before the end of 2018.
By combining LTE‑M and LoRa, Orange aims to support the rapid growth of IoT and cover a wide range of use cases. LTE‑M is a cellular technology optimized for connected devices and is deployed over Orange’s 4G network. It is particularly well-suited for devices that move, operate inside buildings, or function underground, making it a strong option for logistics tracking, telemonitoring, remote assistance and fleet management.
LoRa targets very low-power applications, enabling long battery life with low-cost modules and benefiting from a broad and expanding ecosystem that spans sensors to applications. Orange has been an early supporter of LoRa, operating a national network in France that already serves about 250 corporate customers.
Since launching LTE‑M in Belgium, Orange has conducted extensive trials throughout 2018 across multiple European markets. These trials have enabled customers, partners and device manufacturers to test and develop solutions for sectors such as utilities (electricity, gas and water), industrial operations and logistics.
LTE‑M compatible devices are expected to be available by the end of the year via Datavenue Market, the Orange Business Services marketplace for IoT devices and connectivity services.
Earlier, in December, Orange Belgium announced a nationwide rollout of Narrow Band‑IoT (NB‑IoT) and LTE‑M technologies. Both NB‑IoT and LTE‑M are Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) cellular technologies designed to connect large volumes of devices efficiently for IoT deployments.
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