First Extended Coverage Trial for IoT Completed Successfully

Swedish communication technology giant Ericsson, French telecommunications company Orange and US technology giant Intel have successfully conducted the world's first extended coverage trial for Internet of Things (IoT) using EC-GSM-IoT (Extended Coverage-GSM-IoT) technology in Paris.

IoT, for a laymen, is a futuristic system where you can control almost everything - from TV to refrigerator, from air-cooling to coffee machine - with your smartphone.

The trial, conducted in Paris from November 2015 to February 2016, was done for low-cost, low-complexity devices and enhanced network capabilities for cellular IoT.

"The results represent a significant step forward for the industry. It demonstrates the viability and cost effectiveness of the technology and paves the way for us to help the IoT ecosystem develop," Alain Maloberti, SVP of Orange Labs Networks, said in a statement on Monday.

The trial demonstrated improved indoor coverage and showed that investments could be optimised through new software deployment on top of existing cellular networks.

"We are pleased with the results reached during the trial. EC-GSM-IoT is a promising technology offering new opportunities for massive IoT based on 3GPP standard evolutions," added Arun Bansal, head of business unit radio, Ericsson.

EC-GSM-IoT (formerly EC-EGPRS) is a new technology that enables new capabilities of existing cellular networks for LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) IoT applications.

"Improved indoor coverage is key when it comes to IoT so we are very pleased with the results achieved during the trial," Asha Keddy, vice president and general manager of intel's next generation and standards group, noted.

Cellular networks optimised for IoT will be operational in 2017. EC-GSM-IoT is set to be demonstrated at the ongoing three-day Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, that began on Sunday.