Verizon has announced plans to support LTE Category M1 on its mobile network, the new standard for low-power IoT applications. Part of 3GPP Release 13 for LTE-Advanced, Cat M1 requires much less spectrum bandwidth compared to earlier standards such as Cat 1 and Cat 0. It can also support extended battery life in some user cases and better power efficiency, according to the operator.
AT&T also announced it's working on LTE-M, another name for Cat M1, in cooperation with Sierra Wireless. The company said it will start a pilot in November in the San Francisco Bay area with several partners. Sierra Wireless AirPrime LTE-M modules, part of its HL Series, are expected be commercially available in the first half of 2017.
Verizon said it is working closely with chipset, modules and device partners to develop its Cat M1 platform and expects to be the first US operator to launch Cat M1 services later this year. Partners include Altair, Sequans, U-Blox, Telit, Sierra Wireless, Gemalto, Nokia, Ericsson and others.
Verizon has already adopted LTE Cat 1 and is developing a core IoT architecture within its 4G network.
