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The network will be built on the LoRaWAN standard, a standard for Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs) that can connect devices over long distances with little battery power consumption.

This makes LPWANs a good option for connecting smart cities. They can connect a large number of devices over a wide geographic area, and they typically cost far less than cellular networks charge for a data connection. So they can easily connect a network of sensors, smart streetlights, and smart meters across a city at a relatively low price. Also, the low power consumption of LPWANs means that devices connected to them have a long battery life.

Other LPWAN carriers are also focusing on smart cities use cases. Sigfox, which builds its own proprietary LPWANs, announced plans recently to build networks in 100 cities in the US this year.

Samsung and SK Telecom will first test their LoRaWAN-based network in the Korean city of Daegu. Samsung said in a statement that the network will be used to connect sensors across the city that will collect data about traffic, weather conditions, and air pollution.

South Korea already has one of the world's most advanced smart cities implementations in the city of Songdo, which was built from the ground up as a connected urban environment. Samsung and SK Telecom plan to roll out their LoRaWAN-based network to the rest of South Korea later this year. The network should help make the country a center for smart cities innovation by providing a cheap way to connect urban infrastructure to the internet.



Jonathan Camhi, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on smart cities that examines how other municipalities can learn from Barcelona's development into a smart city, how cities' investments in IoT technologies will grow over time, and how those investments will impact urban economies worldwide.

Here are some of the key findings from the report:


In this report we will also:

  • Define the difference between connected vs smart cities.
  • Provide key takeaways from Barcelona's IoT strategy, which has earned it recognition as the world's smartest city.


