Our recent webinar held during our mid-term event spotlighted LoRa Alliance’s LoRaWAN standard and its expanding role in large-scale IoT.
The presentation explained how the technology combines kilometre-scale reach with ultra-low power consumption by operating in unlicensed sub-GHz spectrum. Because gateways are inexpensive and spectrum fees are absent, networks can be rolled out as public, private or community deployments and can roam seamlessly between one another; satellite providers now add coverage for remote areas.
Several real-world projects illustrated these advantages. Hamburg uses 600 gateways to connect parking spaces, EV chargers and smart meters; more than 10 000 Starbucks stores rely on LoRaWAN for automated cold-chain monitoring; and almost 400 000 streetlights in India and the Middle East are managed over dedicated LoRaWAN links. Water utilities have become major adopters: Veolia has installed over three million LoRa-equipped meters across France, Tampa Bay connects 200 000 meters with just 80 tower gateways, and Australian operators use LoRaWAN pressure and flow sensors to detect leaks before pipes burst. Across these deployments, users report lower maintenance costs, reliable deep-indoor coverage and the ability to layer new smart-city services onto the same infrastructure.
The webinar noted that the installed LoRaWAN base now exceeds 100 million devices, with leading network operators seeing roughly 50 percent annual growth. LoRaWAN is typically used alongside Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB and cellular in multi-radio designs, and forthcoming guidance from the alliance will address best practices for such hybrid solutions. Slides and a recording of the session are available in the organisation’s webinar library.
