Sigfox is to increase the footprint of its low power, wide area (LPWA) IoT network to reach 95% of the UK population by 2019, thanks to a new partnership with WND-UK.
The company already has a UK network reaching 30% of the country covering 11 major cities including Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, and Sheffield, through a partnership with Arqiva.
To complete network coverage in the UK, Sigfox has also been working with WND-UK – who joins as a UK Sigfox operator (or SO). WND-UK has already begun deploying the new network and is expected to reach up to 95% of the UK population by 2019. WND already delivers Sigfox connectivity in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and soon Argentina.
Arqiva will continue to service its existing network infrastructure and WND-UK will deploy, operate and maintain a nationwide network, as well as develop Sigfox’s services. Both networks are fully interoperable for Arqiva and WND UK’s customers and will enable new applications in areas such as smart logistics, asset tracking, and facilities management.
“The UK has an active, fast-growing Internet of Things market,” said Rodolphe Baronnet-Frugès, vice president of Network and Business Development at Sigfox. “According to some forecasts, there will be 50 billion connected devices worldwide by 2020, but for this to become a reality, both cost and energy use will have to come down. That’s the solution Sigfox offers.”
The network should also be able to connect with other Sigfox networks around the world, with networks including France, the Netherlands and Spain and in cities including Moscow and Munich.
