MTN Business rolls out a dedicated Internet of Things (IoT) network
MTN Business says it has embarked on an aggressive rollout of new generation technologies such as LoRaWAN Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) and Narrow Band-IoT to support its machine2machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, and enhance security of business-critical information.
Mariana Kruger, GM for IoT Solutions at MTN Business, said that the company has started to experiment with low power wide area networks (NB-IoT and CatM1) in urban areas, which the operator is rolling out into its network.
“What this technology allows us to do is to use dedicated communication channels to speak to devices. The frequency or spectrum allocated can strengthen the signal to these devices. For example, a normal GSM signal can only penetrate two metres through a wall.
“On the other hand, NB-IoT technology focuses specifically on wider and deeper coverage, which enables a large number of devices to be connected. Using NB-IoT, we aim to achieve up to eight metres through walls.
“In Australia, line of sight tests have shown that they can achieve 20km of coverage. At this stage, we are unable to divulge whether we have replicated what these tests have achieved, but our results are very encouraging,” said Kruger.
She pointed out there has never been a country-wide network outage that affects all voice, SMS and data service. “Owing to the way the network is designed, an active cell or base station will provide connectivity within a short radius.”
Kruger further vouched for the security of these systems. “These solutions are housed in our data centres, and we are 3GPP compliant in accordance with our Global GSM Operator license conditions. The level of encryption on our network is second to none.
“Taking it further, we have created a dedicated network that has its own core business support systems and operational support systems for all our M2M and IoT solutions. Our network allows us to separate our consumer traffic from our M2M and IoT related traffic.
“This is because we understand that, in this environment, the communications that are coming from these machines can include data from power utilities or vehicles in transit. There is a certain level of criticality of that information that applies, as opposed to somebody linking to their next YouTube session, for example,” said Kruger.
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