Verizon Business has made several announcements concerning the IoT that touch on network compatibility, 5G usage, hardware and management capabilities.
The announcements rely heavily on ThingSpace, the carrier’s IoT marketplace and management platform. The announcements:
- Verizon-certified IoT devices now can access the Verizon Nationwide 5G network through currently compatible data plans in the ThingSpace IoT Marketplace. 5G Nationwide is the Verizon 5G offering that uses lower-frequency spectrum, which provides greater coverage but at lower speeds in comparison with the company’s 5G Ultra Wideband offering.
- New 5G Nationwide-compatible hardware and plans will be released this year, with devices and plans compatible with Verizon’s Ultra Wideband network expected by the first quarter of next year.
- A new low-cost narrowband IoT module has been certified on Verizon’s network. Narrowband IoT is one of four IoT communications protocols that Verizon supports.
- Intelligence capabilities combining network and device analytics on a single dashboard are available for customer trial now. The capabilities will be available commercially later this year.
The new intelligence tools – known as ThingSpace Intelligence—provide predictive visibility into IoT device and network performance by applying machine learning to millions of Verizon network signals. This aids in management of massive IoT deployments and generates predictive alerts and notifications with overlays for extreme weather.
The low cost module that is now certified on Verizon’s network is from Quectel and is powered by the Qualcomm 212 LTE IoT modem. The sub-$4 module is designed to reduce the cost of narrowband massive IoT application and to enable turnkey connectivity for “for a vast array of industrial sensors.”
“Verizon Business is a single-provider destination for IoT, with solutions spanning broadband and narrowband, 5G and LTE, and intelligence, hardware, and management, for applications across industries,” TJ Fox, Senior Vice President of Industrial IoT and Automotive for Verizon Business said in a press release. “But it’s not just the expanding breadth of offerings — it’s the lowered costs, power-efficiency, and heightened accessibility. Broadband IoT on 5G Nationwide and new narrowband IoT hardware in the sub $4 range, with plans under $1, can help open up IoT for new customers, new use cases, and innovative developers.”
Joan Engebretson contributed to this report.
