Huawei Earns Gold Medal for NB‑IoT Technology at World IoT Expo

In the fast‑moving IoT landscape, Huawei’s narrowband technology is attracting growing attention.

The Chinese networking leader announced that it secured a gold medal at the recent World Internet of Things Exposition in Wuxi, China.

The award recognized Huawei’s advances in narrowband (NB) cellular IoT, a milestone that the company says has strengthened industry confidence in the rapid development of the NB‑IoT supply chain.

Huawei has conducted multiple tests that surpass industry specifications for Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN).

Narrowband is a LPWAN technology that utilizes licensed spectrum to deliver long‑range communications.

“NB‑IoT technologies fully meet the LPWA market requirements for deep coverage, mass connectivity, ultra‑low power consumption, and ultra‑low costs,” said Huawei IoT manager Zhu Cheng. “With this leading NB‑IoT solution, Huawei will continue working together with carriers and vertical industries to promote the implementation of commercial NB‑IoT applications.”

Huawei has already deployed pilot NB‑IoT sites with various global carriers. By the end of 2017, the company expects to have rolled out 20 commercial NB‑IoT networks worldwide.

“Beyond technological innovation and product development, Huawei will proactively and relentlessly promote the construction of the NB‑IoT ecosystem and accelerate the incubation of NB‑IoT applications for a prosperous future for the industry,” added Zhu.

Global NB‑IoT Competition

Meanwhile, UK‑based Vodafone has announced rollout plans for its NB‑IoT network, slated to launch in four European countries next year.

The dedicated IoT network will go live in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain during the first quarter of 2017.

Vodafone has been one of the largest backers of NarrowBand, an evolution of Huawei’s NB‑IoT effort. 3GPP, the largest telecommunication association, standardized the technology in June.

However, narrowband is currently competing with LoRa, another IoT network built by Semtech. Recent developments in Asia have adopted that standard, contributing to fragmentation in the IoT networking industry.