A suitable application must meet the following criteria:

Project takes place where there is NB-IoT Coverage The required maximum data transfer rate is 230 kbps (UL) or 250 kbps (DL) A latency of up to 10 seconds during data transmission is uncritical (-> no requirement for time-critical data transmission) Localization via GPS is acceptable, since locating by means of network localization (on cell level and/or via triangulation) is not yet implemented in DT network Only data are transmitted (no voice/SMS/CSD) A direct connection between NB-IoT devices is not required (no mesh network) Connection setup for data transmission is initiated from the device (not possible to “wake up” the devices from the server)

In nutshell, an application suited for NB-IoT accepts:

latency of up to 10 seconds during data transmission is uncritical (-> no requirement for time-critical data transmission) Low bandwidth No voice or SMS support No handover

By offering lower costs (hardware and data tariffs), low power consumption and deep indoor penetration; NB-IoT addresses use cases and applications that could not be efficiently served by existing networks/technologies.

This implies that business customers will not only be able to increase efficiency of existing IoT applications but also to tap into new markets.

Our objective as Deutsche Telekom is to serve our customers’ demand across all industries for M2M/IoT solutions that work worldwide, built on established international standards. This is an essential prerequisite to guaranteeing the international service availability, interoperability, reliability and security of all our solutions. That’s why we support international industry standards, and our NB-IoT approach perfectly fits to it.

There are no “main use cases”, as NB-IoT supports a very wide range of diverse applications. Some examples:

Utilities (metering, e.g. heat, water, gas) Smart City (e.g. street lighting, smart parking, smart waste mgmt) Logistics (e.g. goods localization) Consumer (e.g. home appliances) Smart Building (e.g. alarm systems, access control, heating/AC controls) Industry (e.g. equipment status & management, energy infrastructure monitoring) Agriculture (e.g. soil/crop/livestock monitoring)

NB-IoT primary supports use cases with low data rates, high latency, low frequency transfer, deeper indoor penetration, low power consumption and no voice/SMS, although some operators do support SMS.

Example: Smart Waste Management
Measuring the filling level of waste containers with embedded sensors. An action is triggered to containers that reach a defined filling level. The advantage is a flexibility in adapting collection routes, through which waste management companies can optimize logistics costs and fleet management overhead. Customers benefit when bins are not overflowing.

Example: Smart Metering
Remote reading of utility meters (heat, gas, water, electricity) creates greater convenience for customers, while reducing costs for utility providers. The deep indoor penetration of NB-IoT allows the direct connection of meters without having to install and maintain local gateways.

Example: Smart Parking
Parking space sensors in the ground detect the parking space occupancy and provide this information to drivers via a dedicated platform. The advantage is that this saves time and reduces stress for drivers, while cities increase their attractiveness and can introduce new business/charging models for parking space, simultaneously benefiting from reduced CO2 emissions.

NB-IoT has a huge potential on the M2M market. Of the 26.2bn estimated M2M connections in 2023, 37% will correspond to applications for which LPWA technologies are suitable and another 9% correspond to applications which could potentially be adapted to use LPWA connectivity. In 2023, over 3bn wide area M2M connections will be covered by LPWA technology. (Source: Machina Research)

NB-IoT has several performance advantages compared to existing connectivity offers. By offering lower costs, low power consumption and deep indoor penetration, it addresses customer use cases and applications that cannot be efficiently served by existing technologies. Furthermore, being an international industry standard operating in licensed spectrum with high security levels, NB-IoT represents a future-proof and reliable alternative to proprietary LPWA technologies.

NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) is a new cellular technology specifically designed for the Internet of Things. It is sufficient for the low bandwidth requirements of many IoT use cases in industrial and consumer domains.

Its unique advantages are:

low cost, low energy consumption, and deep indoor penetration.

Running on existing telecommunication networks it provides reliability and best coverage. Based on global 3GPP standard, and operated within the licensed spectrum, NB-IoT addresses our customers’ needs for

international operations, stability, reliability, economies of scale, and scalability.

Hence, NB-IoT is an important step towards the “Internet of Things”.

NB-IoT follows the requirements set in the 3GPP standard. The requirements set forth in the standard include:

Long battery life (according to 3GPP estimates up to 10 years with the equivalent of two AA batteries assuming infrequent data transfers) Reuse of RAN assets (target is to upgrade elements of base station primaritly via SW update) Deep indoor penetration (+20dB compared to GSM) Low radio module unit costs (<5$ as industry goal) High security (LTE-based) Low data rates (600 bit/s up to 250 kbit/s Licensed spectrum Several power saving features