Since November 2013, the Grenoble area has been the scene of what is claimed to be a unique experiment. For 16 months, Bouygues Telecom and its international partners (Semtech, Sagemcom, Eolane, Adeunis and Kerlink) and industrial customers have been able to test the LoRa (Long Range) technology and assess its performance in real conditions.
LoRa’s ability to meet the specific needs of industrial customers with various issues (excellent penetration in buildings or in the basement, two-way secure communication objects mobility, and geolocation) is key.
Developed by the French firm Cycleo (based in Grenoble and 2010 winner of the competition OSEO who became a subsidiary of Semtech in 2012), this is a slow LoRa technology that allows objects to exchange small size data, with a battery life up until to 10 years with standard batteries.
With the results of this experiment, Bouygues Telecom announced the launch of the first early June IoT network in France, based on LoRa technology and working closely with Semtech.
Other major operators such as KPN, Swisscom, Belgacom and Fastnet are deploying LoRa or experimented large-scale networks.
The network, which will open in June in Issy-les-Moulineaux and part of Paris, will rely on the “high points” of Bouygues Telecom’s network of more than 15,000 sites. By the end of the year, nearly 500 municipalities will be covered by the IoT network, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Rennes, Nantes, Montpellier and Angers.
Bouygues Telecom aims be the leading French operator to offer a complete and comprehensive commercial offering in the field of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and IoT (Internet of Things) to meet all customer needs.
“The Internet of Things will transform whole sectors of our economy. With the expertise and Bouygues Telecom infrastructure, we propose a fast national coverage with high quality of service,” says Roussat Olivier, chairman and CEO of Bouygues Telecom.
“The pilot conducted with Bouygues Telecom is a world first, and it allowed us to further improve the LoRa protocol. Through its long-standing involvement in the development of our technology, and work continuously to now evolve in the LoRa Alliance, Bouygues Telecom is one of the most advanced operators in the world in the Internet of Things. We look forward to the challenges offered by their future clients in the deployment of their network,” says Alain Dantec, senior vice president, general manager at Semtech.
LoRa at the tip of the IoT
The LoRa technology has properties that its backers say make it the most advanced technology in the IoT, allowing it to be used in a multitude of areas and uses, such as:
Smart Cities: Intelligent parking, monitoring of buildings, noise monitoring, detection of persons, traffic management, public lighting management, household waste management, public display,
Smart Environment: Fire detection, air pollution, snow level, prevention of avalanches, floods and drought, detection of earthquakes,
Smart Water: Monitoring of drinking water, chemical contamination detection, tracking pools, level of pollution of the seas and oceans, leak detection, monitoring flood,
Smart Metering / Smart Grid: Smart Metering electric / water / gas measurement levels, monitoring of photovoltaic systems, water flow, calculation of stock in silos,
Tracking: Vehicles, bicycles, valuables, animals, people,
Emergency and security: The presence of hazardous area analysis / prohibited content of hazardous liquids, radiation levels, explosive substances detection,
Trade: Control of the Supply Chain, NFC payment, smart shopping, shelf product rotation,
Logistics: Monitoring of transport conditions, parcel tracking, storage mismatch detection, fleet tracking,
Industrial control: Monitoring machinery, equipment status, quality of indoor air, temperature monitoring, detection of ozone levels, location of facilities / indoor products, diagnostic vehicles,
Smart Agriculture: Follow the vines, followed greenhouses, irrigation control golf courses, weather station, compost, animal tracking,
Farm animal Smart: Traceability grazing level monitoring toxic gas monitoring the development of the animals, hydroponic,
Home Automation and Smart Buildings: Use of water and electricity, remote control, intrusion detection, smoke detection, monitoring valuable assets,
eHealth: Fall detection, drug storage, Sports monitoring, patient monitoring, ultraviolet radiation,
