Networking Around Glove

SK Telecom established the long-range (LoRa) network across the nation for the first time in the world.
SK Telecom established the long-range (LoRa) network across the nation for the first time in the world.

 

SK Telecom established the long-range (LoRa) network, which is a dedicated Internet of Things (IoT) network, across the nation for the first time in the world while the LoRa network is rapidly spreading to 150 cities around the globe. LoRa Alliance, which was established in March last year, has more than 400 member companies.

LoRa Alliance held a press conference at the Sheraton Seoul Palace Gangnam Hotel in Seoul on October 13 and said the LoRa network is being operated in about 150 cities around the world. SK Telecom built the nationwide LoRa-based IoT network in Korea, while KPN, a Dutch mobile telecommunications company, also established the nationwide IoT network in the Netherlands. Orange, France's largest telecom company, also announced its plant to construct the nationwide network. Comcast of the U.S. plans to carry out pilot LoRa-based IoT services in San Francisco first, along with Semtech, and then expand them to nationwide services later.

LoRa Alliance is a global association consisting of business operators established to promote the IoT network ecosystem. It discusses all about the LoRa network, including technical standards, roaming services between business operators, and marketing, security and business strategies. LoRa Alliance Marketing Committee Chairwoman Tracy Hopkins said, “We aim to create an open system that help various things to exchange information through the LoRa-based IoT network. When using the LoRa network, low power sensors can be used and things can continuously exchange information without changing batteries for a long time.”

In Korea, SK Telecom is active in LoRa Alliance. The company preemptively built the IoT network which is playing a role as a test bed for the LoRa network. It helped LoRa Alliance to hold the recent general meeting in Seoul for the first time in Asia.

SK Telecom is also aggressively expanding its business using the LoRa network. The company plans to launch about 50 LoRa-based IoT services by the end of this year, including a service that manages the level of water for agricultural use across the nation by using the LoRa sensor in cooperation with the Korea Rural Community Corporation

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