Ontario launch set for this year, national rollout by 2020
TORONTO – Rogers is launching a national LTE-M (Long Term Evolution for Machines) to help businesses connect and track their assets in real time.
A new network technology designed to support IoT devices, LTE-M provides wireless network connectivity to devices like sensors and monitors that don’t require a lot of bandwidth, allowing them to carry information over long distances, with longer battery life and better network coverage in hard to reach areas. The technology can also power consumer IoT applications such as wearables, monitoring and tracking solutions.
The national rollout of LTE-M will start with an initial launch in Ontario by the end of 2018, followed by additional provinces next year, and a full national rollout by 2020.
"As leaders in IoT, we are committed to supporting our customers as they explore the capabilities and benefits available through Rogers rapidly growing IoT ecosystem," said Rogers’ president of enterprise Dean Prevost, in the news release. "With the launch of LTE-M, we are empowering the adoption of reliable, low cost, and secure IoT solutions that support a variety of use cases such as asset tracking, smart cities, utilities, transportation, and supply chain management."
Describing LTE-M as a great alternative option for machine-to-machine connections that are still using the 2G network, Rogers said that it will offer customers “clear and simple options to enhance their service experience” should they choose to migrate and upgrade their 2G IoT devices.
Rogers added that it is expanding its portfolio of IoT solutions and that IoT “solution providers” who are interested in working with Rogers, or participating in LTE-M field trials may submit an application here.
"Rogers has a strong history of innovation in IoT. LTE-M continues that leadership and is a key part of our plan towards building a 5G-ready network," added CTO Jorge Fernandes. "LTE-M will bring Massive IoT to life – a market with tremendous scale for connected devices – and will fundamentally improve how Canadian businesses and cities operate."
