The French telco currently provides LoRa technology in nearly 4,000 towns across the country
French telecommunications group Orange confirmed that it aims to test the interconnection of its LoRa network with that of another European operator by December in the framework of the LoRa Alliance and work on the roaming standards on LoRaWAN networks.
The roaming standard will supplement Orange Business Services’ international end to end solution for a focused coverage in towns, harbours or industrial sites, announced at the Mobile World Congress in February 2017.
The operator said that over 100 customers of Orange Business Services have already chosen the LoRaWAN connectivity solution in various business sectors, intelligent communities, smart homes, health, industry and agriculture, for uses as varied as smart buildings, connected parking garages, patient home monitoring, supply chain and geolocation.
Orange Business Services offers a selection of objects (connected objects, modems, gateways, starter kits, modules) which have been tested and certified by the operator. One of them is the LoRa Explorer Kit, a full development kit to prototype LoRaWAN connected objects and test projects and services on the Orange LoRa network in France. The IoT device catalogue will include 75 objects by the end of June, the company said.
Orange says its LoRa network currently covers close to 4,000 towns and industrial sites across France, and the carrier expects to reach national coverage with its network by the end of 2017.
Present in 29 countries, the Orange Group ended the first quarter of this year with a customer base of 265 million customers worldwide, including 203 million mobile customers and 19 million fixed broadband customers.
