Ericsson trials Cat-M1 IoT network in Africa

Networking giant Ericsson has announced trialling a Cat-M1 Internet of Things (IoT) network with MTN South Africa in partnership with Qualcomm.

The trial -- which signals the first Cat-M1 experiment for the African continent -- made use of Qualcomm's MDM9206 global multimode LTE IoT modem, the Ericsson Massive IoT Radio Access Network product, and MTN South Africa's own test bed lab.

MTN South Africa, which will continue the trials, said it plans to use Cat-M1 IoT applications and devices for both business and consumer customers, citing the low-cost devices, long battery lives, and extended coverage they enable.

"Today, the majority of telco IoT revenue comes from machine-to-machine connectivity, but in the next five years, this will change to revenue from platforms, applications, and services. This trial ensures MTN South Africa will capture new revenue streams." - Rafiah Ibrahim, Ericsson Middle East and Africa president 

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