KPN accelerates roll-out of Internet of Things network in the Netherlands

KPN has announced to proceed to a faster roll-out of the IoT network in the Netherlands. The initial aim being to reach a nationwide coverage by the end of 2016, an increasing interest in the project has led KPN to decide to complete the roll-out by the second quarter of this year.

The network is the so-called Long Range Wide Area Network (LPWA), or LoRa network, which allows for devices to be connected and to exchange small amounts of data over a very long distance with a minimal power consumption, enabling new disruptive services. The cities of Rotterdam and The Hague have been connected to the LoRa network since November. As the demand for this network has been found to be bigger than initially expected, poles in the rest of the country will be equipped with LoRa antennas at very short term.

The LoRa network has been launched in addition to the already existing mobile and fixed networks of KPN. The technology enables devices to be connected without the use of a traditional sim-card. Moreover, very little power is used to make the network work.