South Korea Introduces Cheap IoT Coverage Nationwide

To encourage growth of SMEs, startups and the IoT market, South Korea”s SK Telekom has launched budget plans for LoRa-based IoT services all over the country. Completed six months earlier than planned, the distribution of LoRaWAN now covers 99% of population.

By the end of 2017, SK Telekom plans to expand IoT development by investing KRW 100 billion to connect 4 million devices to the network. The operator is also looking into developing services in the areas of metering, tracking and monitoring.

SK Telecom is proud to announce the nationwide deployment of LoRaWAN as it marks the first important step towards realizing connectivity between infinite number of things, going beyond the traditional role of telecommunications centered on connectivity between people, said Lee Hyung-hee, President of Mobile Network Business at SK Telecom. Going forward, SK Telecom will develop and offer a wide variety of IoT services designed to offer new value for customers, while working closely with partners including SMEs and startups to vitalize the IoT ecosystem.

SK Telekom offers six plans, at prices ranging from USD $0.3 to USD $ 1.75, depending on data use.

South Korea is not the first country to invest in IoT coverage. In the Netherlands, telecom company KPN has already deployed LoRa networks, announcing 1.5 million devices are now connected to the IoT system.

Last year we identified an increasing demand for low-power network technology for Internet of Things applications. We are responding to this by choosing LoRa, so millions of devices can be connected to the internet in a cost-effective manner, KPN”s COO Joost Farwerck said.