Sigfox plans to build IoT networks in U.S. 100 cities this year

BI Intelligence , May. 10, 2016 – Sigfox, which provides a low-power network for connecting sensors, said that it is expanding its presence in the US to 100 cities by the end of this year, Fortune reported.

The company had previously planned to build networks in 10 US cities by the end of the year.

Sigfox originated in Europe, and has built Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) in 18 different countries that are already connecting more than 7 million devices, according to the company. It just expanded its efforts to the US this year, and this announcement shows that the company is aggressively building its business amidst increasing competition among long-range networks for connecting IoT devices.

Other companies that provide LPWANs are also aggressively expanding their business.Ingenu, which provides LPWANs based on its own proprietary technology, plans to build open networks in 30 US cities by the end of this year. Senet is also building an open LPWAN across the US based on the LoRaWAN networking standard.

These LPWANs are also a threat to the traditional cellular network providers, as LPWANs can connect low-power IoT devices like sensors at a cheaper cost and with less power consumption than 4G LTE networks. The major cellular network providers in the US are responding by developing their own networks specifically for the IoT.

Verizon is building an alternative low-cost low-power network based on its existing LTE infrastructure to connect IoT devices. AT&T is also testing a LPWAN based on LTE infrastructure with Ericsson. So competition for long-range connectivity for IoT devices is set to heat up rapidly over the next couple of years, providing an array of connectivity choices for IoT device manufacturers and end users.

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