‘Growth of the Internet of Things can cause problems for unlicensed networks’

The Telecom Agency has commissioned a study into the influence of the growing number of internet-of-things devices on the available frequency space. This indicates that interference may occur for unlicensed applications.

In the research, Dialogic writes that various techniques can be found in the unlicensed frequency band, of which LoRaWAN and Sigfox are widely available. Also in the future this frequency range would not be committed to a particular technique for lpwan. The research firm expects that interference may occur in the unlicensed frequency band, especially in the 863MHz to 870MHz band because it is very popular. The interference would be amplified using spread spectrum modulation by LoRaWAN and ultra narrowband by Sigfox.

Dialogic advises to encourage operators of lpwa networks for internet-of-things devices in the unlicensed frequencies to fine-tune their network and to make them aware of the risks associated with the availability of these networks. However, there would be no need to designate a new frequency band for lpwa networks.

The Telecom Agency also writes that the research indicates that there will still be sufficient frequencies in the coming years to meet the demand for internet-of-things networks at frequencies lower than 1GHz. The organization expects that by 2024 there will be “between 8.6 and 52.1 million IoT devices using lpwan. These will mainly be found in agriculture and in applications in ‘smart’ buildings.