AT&T, Orange, Swisscom and KPN have turned on LTE-M roaming across their respective IoT networks in North America and Europe.
AT&T operates an LTE-M network across the U.S. and Mexico. KPN has launched an LTE-M network in the Netherlands; Swisscom’s LTE-M network is in use across Switzerland; and Orange has launched LTE-M networks in France and Romania. Orange plans to expand its IoT networks to Spain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Belgium and Poland by the end of 2019.
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The agreements will enable low power IoT devices to communicate across multiple IoT networks, the carriers said. Additional carriers are expected to join the collaboration in the coming months to support more cross-border roaming arrangements.
IoT customers are growing increasingly interested in global connectivity solutions, the carriers said. KPN’s director of IoT, Carolien Nijhuis, named LTE-M roaming as “one of the most requested features by our customers in the market.”
AT&T’s John Wojewoda, associate VP of global connections management, agreed. “More and more of our enterprise customers require global capabilities as they deploy IoT devices and applications,” he said in a statement. “These LTE-M roaming agreements help meet that demand and make it easier for businesses around the world to benefit from the power of a globalized IoT.”