Sigfox operator Wireless Network Developments (WND) has covered 85 per cent of the UK population with it Sigfox network, having deployed 1,500 Sigfox base stations. The deployment has been on time and in budget, said WNDUK, and the 85 per cent threshold means the UK ranks as “covered” on Sigfox’s list of countries for low-power wide-area (LPWA) network coverage.
WND, which also operates a number of Sigfox networks in Latin America, said it will deliver on its stated UK target of 2,000 base stations and over 90 per cent population coverage this summer.
“We now have in place the only credible nationwide LPWA network,” commented Tim Harris, chief executive for WND UK. “We’re building a nationwide communications network in record time, and on record budgets.”
He said the company’s rate of deployment was on track, with the 1,500 in place “as planned” by the end of March. “We now have more than three quarters of our core network in place… The balance of the 2,000 needed to complete the core network will be in place by the Summer, as planned.”
WND will continue to develop and densify its UK Sigfox network after the summer with micro base stations and repeaters, offered as enhanced coverage-as-a-service (ECaaS). In particular, Sigfox is putting focus on airports, ports, and “priority locations requested by major customers”.
Harris commented: “When we speak to anyone in the telecoms market space, they’re always completely in awe of what we’re doing here at WNDUK.”
