Over the past decade or so, communications technology has been revolutionized massively. The days of using dial-up internet are long behind us and while WiFi is cool and all, it’s not the dark magic that a lot of people thought it was in early 00s. 3G networks have given way to 4G LTE networks and we now do more with our smartphones than many would have imagined this time 10 years ago. Verizon, the United States’ largest wireless network and pioneer in 4G networks is looking ahead to the future once again, looking to be the provider of networks that connect the Internet of Things to well, everything.
In a press release earlier this week, Verizon has announced plans to utilize Category 1 LTE networks for use cases that were previously designed to use 2G networks. This will allow Internet of Things applications to connect to the wider web both quickly and with little interference from traditional LTE networks, while also leveraging the strong backbone of Verizon’s network. It’s not just in the network that Verizon is looking ahead, either as they’ve been offering up their ThingSpace platform for developers for some time now, allowing them to build and deploy something fairly quickly. Now, Verizon has been able to partner with Bug Labs to offer their dweet and freeboard APIs and AEPs to users using ThingSpace.
Mark Bartolomeo, Vice President of IoT Connected Solutions at Verizon said that “between our ThingSpace APIs and an expanded set of Cat1 devices deployed on our LTE network we are providing this largely underserved market with the tools needed for endless IoT solutions to be deployed at scale.” While that sounds of Verizon, there is a market developing here, and if Big Red can become the overwhelming leader in this market as well as mobile communications, then this is more money straight to their pocket. Needless to say, Verizon is doing some good for said developing market though, as without the opportunity to test application in real world situations, it’s difficult to create an appealing end product.