Sprint (Finally) Enters the NB-IoT Business

Sprint is last of the big four mobile carriers to roll out an NB-IoT network in the US.

Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

October 23, 2019

1 Min Read
Sprint (Finally) Enters the NB-IoT Business

MWC Los Angeles -- Sprint has become the last major mobile carrier to launch a narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network in the US.

Sprint revealed the launch of the narrowband low-power, wide-area (LPWA) IoT network here Tuesday morning. The operator says NB-IoT will complement its existing nationwide Cat M LTE IoT network, which was launched in mid-2018.

NB-IoT runs at 100 Kbit/s to 200 Kbit/s in bandwidth of about 180KHz, and works well providing coverage in underground and dense building environments with stationary devices. In contrast, Cat M runs at up to 1 Mbit/s in 1.4MHz bandwidth and works with voice commands and mobile devices.

Cat M and NB-IoT will both run on Sprint's Curiosity IoT core network and operating system, which Sprint has described as "dedicated, distributed and virtualized."

Sprint showed off its NB-IoT work with international automation and energy company, ABB Group, here at the Ericsson booth on Tuesday. For the floor demo, ABB Group was running a variable frequency drive (VFD) to control an electric motor via NB-IoT.

Figure 1:

T-Mobile launched a nationwide NB-IoT network in the US in summer 2018. AT&T and Verizon followed with their own NB-IoT networks, in April and May 2019, respectively.

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— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading

About the Author

Dan Jones

Mobile Editor

Dan is to hats what Will.I.Am is to ridiculous eyewear. Fedora, trilby, tam-o-shanter -- all have graced the Jones pate during his career as the go-to purveyor of mobile essentials.

But hey, Dan is so much more than 4G maps and state-of-the-art headgear. Before joining the Light Reading team in 2002 he was an award-winning cult hit on Broadway (with four 'Toni' awards, two 'Emma' gongs and a 'Brian' to his name) with his one-man show, "Dan Sings the Show Tunes."

His perfectly crafted blogs, falling under the "Jonestown" banner, have been compared to the works of Chekhov. But only by Dan.

He lives in Brooklyn with cats.

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