450 MHz LTE for business- and mission-critical IoT

Cellular networks provide a wireless backbone for smart city solutions. Smart lighting systems require robust cellular connectivity to offer reliable, intelligent, and weather-adaptive lighting control at all times. To protect road users and keep traffic flowing, smart traffic management systems need to remain online even when the power goes out. Waste management systems need to receive signals from connected garbage bins and dumpsters in poor signal environments. And smart parking sensors, often located indoors or underground, need to be able to transmit data to the cloud.

By leveraging cellular connectivity, connected utilities can distribute resources more efficiently, reduce waste, and monitor all aspects of their operation. Smart electric grids can balance power supply and demand through smart monitoring of renewable power generation, demand-side management, and battery storage. Smart metering simpflifies billing for domestic and commercial power production and consumption. And water, heat, and gas networks can use distributed wireless sensors to detect leaks in real-time, minimizing losses and raise alerts for swift repair, while monitoring water quality in distribution networks and in the environment.

Often located in areas with limited cellular coverage, cloud-connected environmental sensors are deployed to monitor the natural and the built environment. Air quality monitoring networks track fine dust, toxic gases, and other pollutants such as carbon monoxide and alert public authorities if reported values exceed critical values. Deployed in forests, IoT sensors can detect the initiation of wildfires or when conducive to fires. Cellular connectivity can be a lifeline for lone workers performing maintenance operations on remote infrastructure. And smart connected sensors can be used to monitor critical infrastructure, such as dams, dikes, buildings, and bridges.

Wireless connectivity is already revolutionizing agriculture, increasing efficiencies and reducing waste. Connected tractors select the optimal trajectory to avoid double spraying while sensing data and uploading it to a cloud-hosted backend. Wirelessly connected humidity sensors determine soil humidity in real-time to ensure that plants receive just the right amount of water they need to thrive. GPS-enabled animal trackers report the position, feeding behavior, and other health metrics of farm animals as well as the condition of their pastures to optimize their health. And wirelessly connected autonomous robots plant seeds independently while protected the soil by minimizing compaction.

The proliferation of health solutions has underscored the need for robust and resilient cellular networks that remain operational even when consumer cellular networks fail. Cellular connectivity increases patient health and wellbeing by delivering access to fail-safe health monitoring for better recovery outside the clinic. Life-sustaining infrastructure including respirators defibrillators with connectivity can be monitored 24/7 to ensure that they are operational and at hand in the event of an emergency. And automated external defibrillators (AED) can diagnose conditions and offer additional features to improve the safety and quality of rescue operations.

Safety and security are paramount at home and in other buildings. Cellular connectivity offers a wireless connection to the cloud-based backend to report suspicious activities independently of the local internet connection. In office buildings, it is used for perimeter access control to restricted areas and to detect the presence of unauthorized people. And smart sensors with cellular connectivity are deployed to report damages caused by flooding or sewage quickly and independently of other networks in order to protect property.