EE has become the latest operator to throw its weight behind NB-IoT technology, with plans in place to hold live trials by the middle of next year.
The operator joins a growing ecosystem of telcos backing the technology, a cellular means to tap into the Internet of Things.
Last week, Deutsche Telekom launched a NB-IoT network in its home market and the Netherlands, opening it up to application developers to trial solutions on commercial networks.
Vodafone, which has played an integral role in the development of NB-IoT since its inception, will debut NB-IoT networks in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain during the first quarter of next year.
Speaking to Mobile Europe last week, Tom Bennett, Director, EE Labs, Technology Services and Devices Development said it is also excited about the potential of the technology but it is keeping its business plans for NB-IoT under wraps for now.
He said the reason why it cannot move as quickly as Vodafone or Deutsche Telekom is because their work has centred on 900MHz spectrum, which differs to EE’s strategy of operating within the 1800MHz band.
He said: “We are in the lab at the moment with our RAN people with a view to hold live trials by Q2 next year.”
EE’s parent BT is also experimenting with LoRa technology, with the telco involved in a government project connecting London with an IoT network.
Other operators are also continuing with work on LoRa. Earlier this month, Swisscom said it is now covering 75 percent of the country with the technology, with it set to cover 80 percent of the population and all major cities by the end of 2016.