Dutch LoRaWan provider The Things Industries (TTI) and Deutsche Telekom are combining their LTE-M and LoRaWan capabilities to provide out-of-the-box connectivity for easy to setup and secure device-to-cloud communications.

LTE-M features good signal penetration, suitable for standalone, managed gateways inside, for example, smart buildings. The offering will therefore start with a smart building starter kit, comprising a pre-configured LoRaWan gateway from Mikrotik, connected over a LTE-M backhaul to TTI’s device and data platform.

Use of LTE-M reduces costs compared with LTE because of more affordable hardware and lower usage costs. Ease of use is guaranteed through no-touch provisioning of gateways, as they come pre-registered and only need powering up when installed.

The gateway optionally supports LoRa 2.4GHz for global deployments.

“This collaboration is a further step on our way to an open IoT network,” said Mangal Afzal from Deutsche Telekom. “New interfaces allow us to unlock the full potential of IoT.”

The expected efforts should enable IoT to move from local installations to large-scale deployments while addressing three major topics in the IoT market today: security, scalability and total cost of ownership.

The partnership is said to introduce a convergence of connectivity that brings the high degree of scalability and manageable costs that local IoT networks need.

To support IoT deployments in Germany and the Netherlands, an early access offer will be launched with LTE-M backhaul for system providers and integrators.