Today at Mobile World Congress Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced it is working with Tata Communications, to support the roll-out of India’s first LoRaWAN™ (LoRa) based network.
Tata Communications unveiled plans for the LoRaTM network last year. It is part of Tata Communications’ long-term strategy of creating mobile platforms and ecosystems that enable its customers and partners to connect people and IoT-connected devices seamlessly on a global scale.
The first phase of the roll-out targets Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 cities in India, touching over 400 million people. Alongside successful field trials in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, there are also 35 proof-of-concept applications in trial on the network.
The association between Tata Communications and HPE paves the way for a new era in enabling devices with embedded connectivity for enterprise customer solutions throughout the country. The project involves connecting devices, applications and other IoT solutions over the LoRa network in smart buildings, campus, utilities, fleet management, security and healthcare services in nearly 2,000 communities, covering over 400 million people, making it the first-of-its-kind initiative in India.
“Tata Communications has 15 years of experience in delivering impactful and innovative communications solutions to its customers globally,” said Anthony Bartolo, president, Mobility, IoT and Collaboration Services, Tata Communications.
“As part of our commitment to innovation and in driving digital transformation globally, we are creating a cohesive, resilient and highly secure network to deploy IoT applications in India. We are excited to be partnering with HPE in this project as this platform is critical to amalgamating all the complex variables in enabling a truly digital India.”
Designed for massive scale, multi-vendor and multi-network support using the oneM2M interoperability standard, the HPE Universal IoT Platform streamlines interoperability and management of heterogeneous IoT devices and applications that power the intelligent edge.
The platform supports long-range, low-power connectivity deployments, as well as devices that use cellular, radio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Recent enhancements announced for the HPE Universal IoT Platform include increased LoRa gateway support, enabling the use of multiple LoRa gateways with a common set of applications to simplify device provisioning and control in heterogeneous LoRa environments.
“The sheer size of this project is incredible, bringing new services to millions of people,” said David Sliter, vice president and general manager, Communications Solutions Business, HPE. “Through our partner centric approach, the HPE Universal IoT platform will enable Tata Communications to build multiple vertical use cases for its IoT network in India on a common platform with a common data model.”
Tata Communications has also selected HPE to be an integral part of its global cellular IoT connectivity services. This provides a range of domestic and cross-border IoT connectivity and management services, particularly for applications requiring elements of mobility, such as connected cars, fleet management and transportation services.
HPE is demonstrating a variety of smart city IoT use cases on the HPE Universal IoT Platform at Mobile World Congress.
LoRa is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) specification for wireless battery operated IoT devices, targeting key IoT requirements such as secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localisation services.
It is being adopted as a standard for connecting LPWAN IoT devices and sensors, complementing other connectivity options such as LTE, Wi-Fi and more. Tata Communications and HPE selected LoRa because of its low power requirements, long range capability, low cost and multiple use opportunities.
HPE is a member of the LoRa Alliance, an open, non-profit association with the mission of standardising LPWAN being deployed around the world to enable the IoT, machine-to-machine (M2M) and smart city and industrial applications. Alliance members collaborate to drive the success of the LoRa protocol (LoRaWAN), by sharing knowledge and experience to guarantee interoperability between operators in one open global standard.
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