Verizon is set to launch the first nationwide commercial 4G LTE Category M1 (Cat M1) network, which spans 2.4 million square miles in the United States. This is the first and only Cat M1 network providing scale, coverage and security for customers seeking wireless access solutions for IoT. Verizon's Cat M1 network is built on a virtualized cloud environment which enables rapid and agile IoT solution deployment and nationwide scaling aimed at increasing IoT adoption for developers and businesses with new and more economical IoT data plans.
Verizon maintains a strong leadership position in IoT technology and solutions with a history of firsts, including the first deployment of 4G LTE, LTE Cat 1 and now LTE Cat M1. The Cat M1 is a new class of LTE chipsets that is designed for sensors. They require less power, offer an extended battery life and support an array of use cases ranging from water meters to asset trackers to consumer electronics.
The low bandwidth use cases for Cat M1 chipsets demand new types of data plans, including low rate, multi-year plans to match the longer useful life of devices. Cat M1 devices can economically scale on Verizon's wireless network on data plans that are as low as $ 2 per month per device, with customized options available for bulk activations and volume purchases.
In collaboration with industry-leading partners, Verizon has enabled an open ecosystem for Cat M1 that includes infrastructure providers and manufacturers of chipsets, modules and devices. The partners include industry leaders including Sequans, Telit, U-Blox, Sierra Wireless, Gemalto, Qualcomm Technologies, and Altair, who together with Verizon are solving for the next generation of IoT use cases.
The Cat M1 is paired with Verizon's ThingSpace Platform and ThingSpace Client which enable seamless and secure development, management and deployment of IoT solutions. ThingSpace is Verizon's global, web-based IoT platform that enables developers and customers to create new IoT solutions and manage their IoT environments end-to-end from the device to the application level. With roughly 14,000 developers using the platform today, new APIs added regularly and global agreements to support connectivity in more than 175 countries, ThingSpace offers a simplified approach for building, deploying and managing IoT applications, which can be customized for a wide-range of IoT use cases such as asset management, industrial automation, wearables, smart city technologies, consumer electronics and more.
Verizon's new and more economical pricing for Cat M1 data plans includes a robust framework for developers with global customization options for APIs and connectivity, designed to reduce costs and speed to market on the ThingSpace platform. When Cat M1 LTE chipsets that are pre-loaded with Verizon ThingSpace client are deployed (like the one offered by Qualcomm Technologies), customers, developers and end-users will receive a better, more turnkey experience.
