Narrowband-IoT gets boost from DHL, Huawei

LPWAN IoT Networks

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Logistics giant DHL and tech titan Huawei Technologies will test a Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) network to connect trucks carrying parts and other assets to an automotive assembly plant in Liuzhou, China.

The firms expect to expand the tests, which will remain in the proof-of-concept phase until the end of September, to other areas of China once this initial phase is completed. NB-IoT is a low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) standard designed to connect enterprise IoT devices that use very little power and transmit very little data.

The move could give NB-IoT a much needed boost.

NB-IoT needs to catch up to LoRa, its rival standard. Standardized by telecom industry group 3GPP for commercial use only last June, NB-IoT has grown and is now available in a handful of markets including Singapore, Spain, and part of Brazil. But that pales in comparison to its rival standard LoRa, which has been used for years to connect enterprise IoT devices and is available in most of North America, Europe, and pockets of Asia, which means NB-IoT needs to grow very quickly if it's going to connect a large share of the 700 million IoT devices that will be connected to a LPWAN in 2021.
Having two big names behind it could give it the needed boost. DHL has a massive global presence, especially in China, where its revenue grew 10.1% to reach $3.2 billion in Q2 2017. Meanwhile, Huawei, which is known for its smartphones, is one of the largest tech companies in China, earning $75 billion last year alone. That means that there's a lot of room for these firms to scale up their use of NB-IoT throughout the rest of their operations. Furthermore, smaller firms elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region may choose to follow Huawei and DHL's lead and use the standard.

And the payoff from that could be large — even if NB-IoT's growth is primarily driven by the Chinese market. North America currently leads in IoT adoption, but spending on connected devices in China will rise to $121 billion in 2022, according to Markets and Markets. That alone could make NB-IoT relevant even if it's unable to overtake LoRa in other core markets like North America.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, expects that more than 24 billion IoT devices will be installed globally in 2020, and the vast majority of these will fall into the small, low-power category.

So networks that are better suited to connect these low-power IoT devices — notably, Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) — are being developed. These networks can connect devices over large geographic areas because of their long range, but use less battery power on the devices they connect and offer cheaper data subscriptions than traditional cellular networks. Interest in LPWANs among IoT providers and end users is growing in response to the opportunities these benefits present.

BI Intelligence has compiled a detailed report on LPWANs that:

Details the broad need for low-cost, low-power internet connectivity for IoT devices that LPWANs will help meet.
Forecasts the growth of the LPWAN market including new networking providers and traditional mobile carriers that are launching their own LPWANs.
Examines how LPWANs will be adopted by different industries that are launching IoT projects.
Compares the distinct characteristics and advantages of different standards for LPWANs.
Explains how the LPWAN market will develop over the coming years in regards to different standards and competitors.
Examines what the future of internet network connectivity for IoT devices will look like, including LPWANs and the coming of 5G mobile networks.

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