LoRa Alliance™ Surpasses 500 Member Mark and Drives Strong LoRaWAN™ Protocol Deployments

SAN RAMON, CA--(Marketwired - June 20, 2017) - The LoRa Alliance™, the global association of companies backing the LoRaWAN™ standard for low-power wide-area IoT (Internet of Things) networks (LPWANs), today announced that it has achieved a new milestone, surpassing 500 ecosystem members in just over two years. Those members, along with their partners and customers, are rapidly deploying the LoRaWAN protocol, with 42 publicly announced operators -- a 3.5x increase in one year -- and over 250 ongoing trials and city deployments.

"The LoRaWAN protocol is being adopted so quickly because it provides an open standard with 10+ years of node battery operation, a range of 10+ kilometers and an average node bill of materials of less than $10, providing a wide-area alternative to the high cost, complexity and overhead of other network implementations," said Geoff Mulligan, chairman of the LoRa Alliance. "We continue to build on these advantages by actively working to extend the global reach of our IoT ecosystem, and by quickly responding to market changes to increase network capabilities."

As an example of these efforts, the LoRa Alliance just released the latest update to its regional parameters for LoRaWAN 1.0.2 revB. Some of the many improvements include:

• India: added support for the country's 865 MHz band, which enabled the recent deployment announced by Tata Communications that includes managing data from 200,000 sensors and gateways using Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Universal IoT platform.
• Australia: the LoRa Alliance demonstrated its responsiveness to the constantly changing technical landscape by rapidly adding support for Australia's recent regulatory change to its ISM band. These changes greatly extend the maximum range and payloads of LoRaWAN networks, using even the lowest data rates.
• Korea: expanded Korean band capabilities.
• Global: added more consistent support for regions where the maximum allowed transmit power is expressed as equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP). This EIRP support makes it much easier for network operators to manage heterogeneous devices while ensuring regulatory compliance.

LoRaWAN Coverage Map for Editorial Use

View the LoRaWAN June 2017 Coverage Map

About LoRa Alliance

The LoRa Alliance is an open, nonprofit association that has grown to over 500 members since its inception in March 2015, becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing alliances in the technology sector. Its members are closely collaborating and sharing their experience to promote the LoRaWAN protocol as the leading open global standard for secure, carrier-grade IoT LPWAN connectivity. With the technical flexibility to address a broad range of IoT applications, both static and mobile, and a certification program to guarantee interoperability, LoRaWAN has already been deployed by major mobile network operators globally, with wide expansion anticipated in 2017. For information about joining the LoRa Alliance, please visit the membership page.

About LoRaWAN Technology

The technology used in a LoRaWAN network is designed to connect low-cost, battery-operated sensors over long distances in harsh environments that were previously too challenging or cost-prohibitive to connect. With its unique penetration capability, a LoRaWAN gateway deployed on a building or tower can connect to sensors more than 10 kilometers away or to water meters deployed underground or in basements. The LoRaWAN protocol offers unique and unequaled benefits in terms of bidirectionality, security, mobility and accurate localization that are not addressed by other LPWAN technologies. These benefits will enable the diverse use cases and business models that will grow deployments of LPWAN IoT networks globally.