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SPTel launches Singapore’s first LoRaWAN network
The LoRaWAN network and its solar-powered gateways will alleviate the need for businesses and IoT service providers to build their own network to hook up sensor devices
Singapore technology provider SPTel has launched Singapore’s first sensor network powered by LoRaWAN, an open, cloud-based protocol that enables sensors and internet of things (IoT) devices to communicate wirelessly using the LoRa wireless modulation technique.
Leveraging SPTel’s pervasive network hubs in Singapore, the sensor network was built for national scale to increase the accessibility of IoT technologies and sensors for business applications, government projects and smart city initiatives.
It would also alleviate the need for businesses and IoT service providers to build their own network to connect up sensor devices.
SPTel’s LoRaWAN network uses LoRaWAN gateways that run on solar energy, making them cheaper and faster to deploy. As the LoRaWAN protocol is a long-range, bi-directional communication protocol with very low power consumption, it’s suited for long-term deployment of sensors for asset tracking, street lighting, waste management, water level and flood management, air quality control, and rodent monitoring, among other uses.
Data collected from LoRaWAN sensors can be sent for analysis to automate manual processes, enable predictive maintenance, increase productivity and improve overall operational efficiency.
At launch, SPTel’s sensor network covers more than 70% of heartlands, 42% of hawker centres and 52% of town councils. The company said it will continue to expand the network to meet the growing needs of its partners and customers.
“The SPTel sensor network is a great leap towards a comprehensive and reliable offering for IoT solution providers,” said Titus Yong, SPTel CEO. “Businesses can tap on this ready infrastructure to jumpstart their IoT applications in a fast, flexible and affordable manner.”
Read more about IoT in APAC
- Getting data management right has been pivotal for Singapore IoT startup SensorFlow to optimise energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions for its hotelier clients.
- India is set to be a cradle for IoT deployments thanks to its vibrant economy and its potential to play a bigger role in global manufacturing.
- More enterprises across APAC are using IoT to track fleet vehicles and improve operations, but technology integration and security concerns are still holding back widespread adoption.
- Bharat Petroleum has developed a digital nerve centre powered by IoT and AI technologies to monitor the journey of its products.
He continued: “With the assurance that gateways are implemented on ultra-secure critical infrastructure locally and on a robust IoT-as-a-service platform, there is peace of mind over data sovereignty and security.
“Businesses and government agencies can focus on ramping up their digitisation efforts towards IoT adoption nationwide. Besides being another step forward in our digital roadmap, this new solution places us in a strong position to capture growth opportunities from growing IoT demands.”
Singapore-based agrotechnology startup AbyFarm is already tapping SPTel’s IoT capabilities to build a smart hydroponics farm in a greenhouse that uses a plethora of sensors, including video cameras, to keep the farm humming around the clock.
The automated farm, located at a rooftop car park in Singapore, can activate fans, water curtains and roof shades if the temperature gets too high, as well as enable agronomists and farmers to identify crops that might be succumbing to disease.
