South Korean operator SK Telecom has announced the completion of its nationwide deployment of LPWAN based on LoRa technology. The operator has also introduced price plans for LoRa-based IoT services. Dubbed ‘Band IoT’, SK Telecom’s new price plans for LoRaWAN-based IoT services are available in six different tiers – from Band IoT 35 (approximately USD 0.3) priced at KRW 350 to Band IoT 200 priced at KRW 2,000 (USD 1.75). SK Telecom is also offering discount benefits for enterprise customers depending on their contract period and the number of lines they use.
SK Telecom completed the LoRaWAN build across the country by end-June, six months earlier than its initial schedule, covering 99 percent of the population. The company completed nationwide LTE-M rollout in March. SK Telecom plans to invest a total of KRW 100 billion in its IoT services expansion by end-2017. It expects to connect over 4 million things to its IoT-dedicated networks by December 2017.
Considering the characteristics of the LPWA network, SK Telecom plans to develop services in the areas of metering, tracking and monitoring. In the area of metering, the company is currently focusing on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), designed to enable utility companies to accurately measure/monitor usage as well as control the metering devices.
SK Telecom has been conducting a pilot project on AMI with SK E&S since November 2015, and plans to expand the service coverage to more regions of the country in July. Going forward, the company will launch AMI services for other utilities including water and electricity.
SK Telecom is also developing in tracking services to identify and track the location of vehicles, people/things, and assets. In cooperation with the local governments, the company plans to launch ‘Safe Watch’, a wearable designed to enhance the safety of children and the elderly in July 2016.
SK Telecom also plans to provide monitoring services capable of controlling and managing manufacturing/public/commercial facilities. Environmental monitoring of CO2 concentration, temperature/humidity, as well as hazardous substances can also be provided. In August this year, SK Telecom will start an environmental monitoring service at Changjo (Creative) Village in Sejong.
SK Telecom plans to launch a total of 20 LoRa-based IoT services by end-2016, including a manhole monitoring service (in September) and a real-time shared parking service (in October).
SK Telecom also began providing LoRa modules free of charge on 1 July. Aimed at facilitating the development and launch of LoRa services, the company will provide a total of 100,000 units of LoRa modules for free. Also, the low cost of the LoRa module will contribute to the development of the wide variety of IoT devices.
