China is the land of NB-IoT, state support, and IoT platforms

China represents both a threat and an opportunity for U.S. technology companies. This week, we saw Google invest $550 million in China’s e-commerce provider JD.com while Qualcomm introduced new modems and reference designs for kids’ smartwatches based primarily on interest from the Chinese market.

So I read with interest this week the report from the GSMA on industrial IoT in China. Most of the report is data collected by a variety of consulting firms, but there are worthwhile stories from big Chinese mobile operators. It is the GSMA, after all.

One of the biggest themes in the report is the use of cellular NB-IoT, which Chinese operators are deploying at a rapid pace. In the U.S., NB-IoT, which has much lower data rates, has yet to gain ground, but AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are planning networks this year and the next. So, I was eager to see where NB-IoT was being used in China in order to learn what we in the U.S. might anticipate.

The Chinese operators are using NB-IoT for smart cities as well as industrial and some smart home applications. In the interviews with Chinese operators, it sounds like the LTE Cat1M standard, which offers slightly higher data rates, might make more sense for consumer applications. One even suggests that the LTE Cat1M networks would be used to create a “premium” IoT network.