LTE-M vs NB-IoT technology, who is the mainstream LPWAN technology?
NB-IoT is also known as LTE Cat-NB, and other terms such as LTE Cat- NB1 and Cat N1 also apply to the NB-IoT specification released in 2016. Today, there are also Cat N2 or Cat NB2 devices using the later enhanced NB-IoT specifications, which are now moving towards commercialization. So, what are the results of LTE-M vs NB-IoT?
Below are the 10 comparison results of LTE-M vs NB-IoT.
1. LTE-M vs NB-IoT "powerful"
The currently available cellular LPWAN standards are NB-IoT and eMTC/LTE-M. NB-IoT is the least “powerful” in terms of speed, data transfer capability, support for real mobile use cases, etc.; but in other areas, NB-IoT is better.
Typically, NB-IoT will be deployed more often in smart city applications such as smart parking, smart street lighting, waste management, smart agriculture, smart home applications, smart meters, manufacturing automation, smart grid applications, smoke detectors, industrial IoT, and other applications with more low-power devices.
Therefore, the range of applications for NB-IoT is actually very broad, and the examples I have given are not exhaustive as many of the use case categories encompass many more use cases. It is also worth noting that in non-cellular LPWAN and NB-IoT, there is a great deal of overlap between use cases.
2. Latency of LTE-M vs NB-IoT
Compared to LTE-M, NB-IoT is less suited to situations where network latency requirements are stringent.
Both NB-IoT and LTE-M play an important role on the road to 5G, where there is a good breakthrough for use cases that emphasize speed. The choice of communication standard is not the only consideration.
If users need to analyze specific sensor data quickly, and this is not specific to a specific communications technology, then they can look to edge computing, which can analyze data closer to the data source before any communication takes place in a cloud or data center.
NB-IoT latency is typically equal to or less than 10 seconds (about 1.6 to 10 seconds); in LTE-M, it is only 100 to 150 ms.
3. LTE-M vs NB-IoT mobility
Compared to LTE-M, NB-IoT does not have sufficient support for mobility.
NB-IoT is more prevalent in applications and uses cases for fixed assets and devices. This does not mean that NB-IoT cannot be used for mobile assets and devices, it is only limited.
For example, real-time NB-IoT applications with trackers exist in the market, shared bike applications, environmental applications with mobile components but low throughput, smart logistics, etc.
For NB-IoT, the battery needs to be reselected when the device is on the move, whereas for LTE-M, the battery does not need to be reselected when the device is on the move. Re-selecting the battery can have a large impact on battery life, so fixed assets such as smart meters or sales terminals are the main, but not the only, application areas for NB-IoT.
4. LTE-M vs NB-IoT energy consumption
Compared to LTE-M, NB-IoT has an advantage in terms of energy consumption.
This is crucial for IoT projects. If IoT devices need to use more batteries and these batteries are replaced more frequently, the total cost of the project will increase.
In the Netherlands, there is an IoT project that aims to protect several dams in the country from rats. If the batteries in all the hardware or similar hardware in the project needed to be replaced, the cost would be high, as it would be a manual service job.
The very low power consumption also means that there is potentially more scope for a large number of devices.
In theory, NB-IoT can have a battery life of up to 10 years. In this respect, it is superior to LTE-M.
The adequate setup of the application will define the actual battery life. At all times, it is important to check the settings and options of the application, which may consume power, in addition to setting up a good energy-saving mode. Of course, the battery life also depends on its own characteristics.
5. Indoor/underground penetration capability of LTE-M vs NB-IoT
An important factor for users in a project use case may be the indoor penetration capability of NB-IoT.
Because NB-IoT uses narrowband, this means it has a higher density of transmission power, which, together with other coverage enhancements, makes the overall effect of indoor penetration better.
NB-IoT is suitable for remote and hard-to-reach buildings, or for locations under the ground, a classic example being a smart meter in a basement.
LTE-M is also suitable for indoor coverage, but NB-IoT is more effective. In terms of coverage and penetration, NB-IoT has a maximum coupling loss of 164 dB, which is 20 dB higher than the link budget compared to GPRS. 6.
6. LTE-M vs NB-IoT other features
Its unique features: NB-IoT does not offer the same level of bidirectionality as LTE-M.
It does allow firmware updates over the air, but this has an impact on power consumption. As a cellular technology, it has advantages in terms of quality of service and security.
The average data rates (downlink speed and uplink rate) obviously depend on the situation and are usually below the maximum based on the various average data rates that have been reported.
7. Coverage area of LTE-M vs NB-IoT
NB-IoT was initially deployed in Europe and Asia. Like many wireless IoT protocols, not only PWAN protocols, the main market for NB-IoT so far is China.
By 2026, NB-IoT and LTE-M will account for more than 60% of the 3.6 billion LPWAN network connections.
8. LTE-M vs NB-IoT prices
Both NB-IoT and LTE-M represent cellular wide-area IoT technologies, and according to the GSMA, there are currently 23 NB-IoT networks and 5 LTE-M networks worldwide.
However, with the spectrum planning and application expansion of each telecom operator, NB-IoT and LTE-M will gradually co-exist, and each telecom operator in China and the US has announced that they will deploy both technologies in the future to meet different market demands.
In the US, the focus in the past few years has not been on NB-IoT, but on LTE-M, with Verizon and AT&T representing the majority of telecom operators. The first NB-IoT solution within the US was launched in early 2018, with a simultaneous annual fee of US$6/12MB.
Verizon LTE-M is currently the cheapest plan at $2 per device per month with a monthly traffic cap of 200KB, while the most expensive plan costs $80 per device per month but allows for 10GB of traffic.
The launch of T-Mobile’s first NB-IoT plan within the US will somewhat influence the race to the bottom for US telecoms operators in the IoT market, but in fact, NB-IoT technology is better suited to a wide range of smart city applications.
For example, meter reading, parking, city alarms, environmental monitoring, etc. T-Mobile’s choice to differentiate itself from its competitors with NB-IoT and to cut through a different market angle will help its future business development.
Although LTE-M is currently the dominant technology, it cannot be said that the US telecom operators have a technology preference, as the choice and deployment of cellular technology is absolutely positively correlated with the telecom operators’ existing frequency band usage and customer relationships, and therefore the choice of LTE-M is mainly related to the telecom operators’ own strategies.
9. LTE-M vs NB-IoT chips
With cellular IoT, although NB-IoT and LTE-M have been identified as mainstream in the market, as they are still new technologies, the cost of related chips and modules is still a major consideration, making third-party or downstream vendors doubtful.
Although NB-IoT and LTE-M have been confirmed to be mainstream in the market, as they are still new technologies, the cost of the associated chips and modules is still a major consideration, making third parties or downstream vendors doubtful.
Therefore, China Mobile has launched an RMB 2 billion subsidy program for IoT, of which RMB 1 billion is for NB-IoT.
China Unicom is planning RMB 10 billion to help the IoT industry mature in various verticals; and
China Telecom is directly subsidizing modules for a second time, enabling the price of NB-IoT modules to be reduced to approximately RMB35 or less.
10. LTE-M vs NB-IoT future
As operators continue to promote their subsidy policies, market application demand and adoption will continue to expand, and with the commercialization of 5G, LTE-M vs NB-IoT must have mature market performance before 5G commercialization in order to smoothly connect to the diverse network application demands of 5G and not delay the commercialization of 5G. Further reductions in module costs are bound to occur.
Through operator subsidies and infrastructure improvements, the market demand for applications will increase and a good cycle of supply and demand will be the focus of attention and efforts by all vendors.
Above are the 10 comparison results of LTE-M vs NB-IoT, have you got them?
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