Orange has launched a commercial pilot of LTE-M technology in four Polish cities, including the capital, and has invited interested parties to apply to take part.
The mobile operator will run LTE-M pilots on its 4G infrastructure in Warsaw, Gliwice, Mysłowice and Tarnów with a view to analysing the technology in real business conditions. The tests will enable participating companies to develop their IoT services and devices, it said.
Micro, small and medium-sized companies interested in providing innovative IoT solutions, including start-ups, can apply to participate in the trial. Orange Polska said it is looking for trialists across a wide range of IoT areas, including smart city, smart home, smart car, smart industry, asset-tracking, smart metering and health applications.
Orange Polska said it will accept applications from 20th June until 10th September, and shortly afterwards the firms that submit the most interesting project proposals will begin development and testing. The tests will be carried out using specialist devices and the Orange Live Object IoT platform.
“We are opening a new market for Orange Polska, which may turn out to be very profitable in the coming years,” said Maciej Zengel, Director of Network Strategy and Mobile Infrastructure at Orange Polska.
“We are improving and developing our network to meet dynamic technological changes and growing customer requirements,” he said.
Orange has selected LTE-M technology, which allows a large number of devices to be connected via a single base station and with low power requirements, for deployment at group level. It claims LTE-M has greater development potential than other IoT technologies.