Orange chooses LoRa for its network dedicated to smart health connected objects

Orange will start deploying its dedicated Internet of Things network in the first quarter of 2016. The operator has decided to use LoRa technology, LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) techno; ie low speed and long range.

Orange seems to be betting very big on smart health connected objects. The operator notably opened a Smart Store last week on the Champs-Elysées. In addition to smart health connected objects, Orange mainly wants to develop the sale of M2M (Machine to Machine) sim cards; although this is already the case today. The new IoT network will use free frequency bands that do not require Arcep's agreement to be used.

After Bouygues Telecom, Qowisio and Actility, which are also deploying a network using LoRa technology, Orange will offer its new services to businesses but will first focus its prospection on Smart Cities. In addition to businesses, these new services also concern individuals. Arnaud Vamparys, in charge of mobile networks at Orange, spoke on the subject: "Smoke detectors, electric shutters, on / off control, LoRa could eventually be used daily to replace Bluetooth".

If Orange expects to standardize the future 2G / 4G cellular networks of the Internet of Things by 2017, it intends to continue using LoRa in addition. The need will then define the network to be favored. According to Stéphane Richard, who spoke in a live tweet, "The development of the Internet of Things promises to be a dead end in the years to come. It is estimated that there will be more than 25 billion smart health connected objects worldwide in 2020 ". It remains to be seen which strategy and which technology will choose the other two giants of the sector, SFR and Free. It's a safe bet that they won't leave their share of the cake to their old and new competitors.

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