Nokia And M1 To Collaborate For Singapore’s First 5G, NB-IoT Live Trial

Singaporean telecommunications provider M1 in partnership with Nokia are launching the Lion city's first live demo of the Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) along with 5G network technology.

The live trial of the NB-IoT involved the implementation of a room temperature and humidity sensor remote application. This device collected and shared data that was done within the M1's laboratory. Meanwhile, the 5G trial showed three robots display 1ms latency. The collaborating companies are currently in the thick of installing NB-IoT all over Singapore, Nokia and M1 sets the time table for the system to be ready by 2017.

This development coincides with the current program of Singapore called the smart nation initiative. The program requires a heavy dependence on the use of IoT devices. Back in August, M1 and Nokia unveiled the nationwide launch of the "heterogeneous network" (HetNet) which is using Nokia's Flexi Zone Wi-Fi facilities and the small cells. This will enable people to choose between different variation of wireless networks in the nation.

The Singaporean company initially trialled the HetNet a year prior to the overall launch in different locations including MRT stations and Orchard road. The HetNet improved the download speed of devices around 60 percent the collaborating companies claimed. Notably, the combination of the HetNet, M1's 4G+ network and LTE-WiFi Aggregation (LWA) technology will bump up the download speed to 1GBps in 2017. M1 released in August that both NB-IoT and HetNet network initial investments costs a total of a number greater than SG$50 million.

Meanwhile, Singapore's other telecommunication provider Singtel is also in works with communication company Ericsson in initial trial of the NB-IoT in its network across the nation. On the other hand, Nokia and Korean telecom company KT has created a successful demo of the NB-IoT using 4G network last August. Other companies who have launched initiatives in conducting trials of the NB-IoT includes, Vodafone Australia and Chinese tech company Huawei who created a network called wireless low-power wide-area network in Melbourne.