NEWSBYTE Digital Catapult, via its Things Connected initiative, has teamed up with The Things Network (TTN) to create the UK’s largest free-to-use LoRaWAN network.
Digital Catapult said that the aim of the new programme is to boost UK innovation and accelerate the adoption of low-power networking technologies. Organisations in the UK will now be able to develop and build Internet of Things (IoT) solutions on a network of over 400 base stations across the country.
The network brings together three existing Things Connected regions (London, North-East, and Northern Ireland) with 63 local communities with over 700 members and 250 gateways.
Things Connected was established in 2016 by Digital Catapult at a time when the UK lacked significant national LPWAN coverage. It supports UK businesses using LPWAN technologies. Things Connected offers an open network for experimenting with, and the prototyping of, IoT products and services that can benefit from LoRaWAN and SigFox connectivity.
Meanwhile, The Things Network (TTN) has grown over the last three years in parallel with Things Connected, with a global free-to-use open network service that offers crowdsourced base station coverage.
Thousands can now access the combined network for testing and product development.
LPWAN connectivity a “driving force”
Peter Karney, head of Product Innovation at Digital Catapult, said that LPWAN connectivity will be the “driving force behind the uptake of IoT, bringing new companies and services to market”.
Wienke Giezeman from TTN said that UK innovators can now deploy LoRaWAN solutions “more seamlessly across the region and fuel further collaboration to benefit the UK economy”.
“Companies too will also be able to demonstrate their services globally, with TTN nodes available across six continents,” he added.
Internet of Business says
The combined network is expected to be self-sustaining and will continue to grow through community support – as both TTN in the UK and Things Connected have over the past two years, according to Digital Catapult.