What main use cases are supported with NB-IoT?
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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.