One of the most connected nations in the world, South Korea is Samsung Electronics first choice for deploying a commercial Internet of Things (IoT)-dedicated nationwide LoRaWAN network in league with SK Telecom.
Samsung said in a news release that the network would be deployed across Korea using the 900 MHz frequency band. The commercial service was scheduled to launch in Daegu, Korea’s fourth largest city, next month and will be available nationwide by the middle of this year.
Daegu will serve as a test bed for the IoT network, and focus on setting up and adopting infrastructure for renewable energy solutions, Cloud platforms and Big Data analytics of healthcare and medical services, as well as electric vehicle infrastructure for autonomous cars. For example, streetlights in the city will collect weather and traffic information using IoT sensors, enabling cost savings by automatically adjusting the lighting level and also sending air pollution status information.
“With the early deployment of a nationwide IoT network, SK Telecom will be able to maintain its position as pioneer in the field of telecommunications,” said Lee Jong-bong, Executive Vice President and Head of Infra Division at SK Telecom. “SK Telecom will continue to work closely with partners including Samsung to deliver new value and convenience to both individual and enterprise customers over the IoT network.”
“Now is a critical moment for ICT companies looking for new future business opportunities such as IoT services,” said Youngky Kim, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.
LoRaWAN IoT networks use an unlicensed, public spectrum called the Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) frequency band. To prevent degradation of other industrial communications already using the ISM band, the network will support the Listen Before Talk (LBT) function. A new service model, the Internet of Small Things (IoST), will also be introduced as a key facilitator for more business opportunities utilizing the Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) like LoRaWAN. LPWAN is a group of technologies optimized to transmit small amounts of data at very low speeds of below 5Kbps.
Image Credit: Samsung