US telco Verizon has launched the first nationwide commercial 4G LTE Category M1 (Cat M1) network, enabling reliable and cost effective Internet of Things (IoT) adoption.

The network spans 2.4 million square miles and provides scale, coverage and security for customers adopting wireless access platforms for IoT.

Being built on a virtualised cloud environment to enable rapid deployment and nationwide scaling, the network is aimed at increasing IoT adoption for developers and businesses with new IoT data plans.

IoT first

Cat M1 is a new class of LTE chipset designed specifically for sensors. They require less power and offer extended battery life, making them suitable for a wide variety of IoT scenarios such as water meters or infrastructure monitoring systems.

“We are very proud to again demonstrate our innovative leadership by providing this commercially available network for our customers, an industry first,” said Mike Haberman, network vice president at Verizon.

“As the natural shift from CDMA-based IoT solutions to the more robust and cloud-based LTE technology occurs, it’s important we stay ahead of that technology evolution for our customers so we can continue to provide them service on the best and most advanced wireless network. Our commercial deployment of the nationwide LTE Cat M1 network does just that.”

Verizon will be offering low rate, multi-year plans to match the longer lifespan of devices, starting from $2 per month per device and with customised options available for bulk activations and volume purchases.

But it’s not just IoT networks that Verizon has been working on. The company recently revealed that it will be holding wireless 5G trials across America, using 28GHz millimetre-wave (mmWave) frequencies to connect to a virtualised core network set up in its US data centres.

It has also been busy working out a deal to buy internet giant Yahoo. Back in July, Verizon agreed to acquire Yahoo’s core internet business for $4.83 billion (£3.86bn), but threatened to walk away from the deal after revelations surrounding a mass Yahoo data breach from 2014 became public.

Around 500 million accounts were believed to have been stolen in the breach, prompting Verizon to cut $350 million (£280m) off the price it is willing to pay for the now much-maligned Yahoo.

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