Canadian IoT firm and MVNO Sierra Wireless has expanded its agreement with T-Mobile in the USA, bolstering its global low-power wide area (LPWA) connectivity offering via its Smart Connectivity service.

The partnership also lets users in the USA access T-Mobile’s multi-band 5G connectivity, as well as 4G LTE ultra-high data offers for fixed applications that require high throughput and low latency such as commercial security and video surveillance, telehealth services, digital vending, and signage.

“This agreement with T-Mobile further strengthens Sierra Wireless’ IoT connectivity offering by combining our purpose-built IoT network and management tools along with LPWA, 4G LTE and 5G coverage from T-Mobile’s powerful mobile network,” said Jim Ryan, senior vice president at Sierra Wireless. “With the introduction of LPWA in the USA via our global Smart Connectivity service, customers in the USA can now access LPWA technology and its many benefits such as wide area coverage, low power usage and decreased costs, all via one global SIM on our MVNO network, simplifying design and logistics, and reducing total cost of ownership.”

Dan Thygesen, senior vice president of T-Mobile Wholesale, added: “T-Mobile Wholesale brings our customers solutions delivering the most advanced 5G network performance and capabilities. This agreement enables Sierra Wireless customers to access T-Mobile’s connectivity for any IoT use case demanding low, high or ultra-high data. We can’t wait to see the expanded customer applications resonate in the marketplace as a result of the new agreement.”

The Smart Connectivity service simplifies how users connect and manage their deployments whether machines or other assets are globally or regionally dispersed. With one global SIM, it reduces operational costs and time-to-market, offers resilient global coverage, increases uptime, and provides seamless expansion into new markets with access to over 600 partner networks in over 190 countries.

In addition, Sierra Wireless’ round-the-clock global network operations centre ensures users experience more uptime, while making it easier to monitor and maintain the lifecycle of their SIMs and devices in the field.

All Sierra Wireless devices and IoT connectivity services are managed through the AirVantage platform, which provides a unified view and full API access and integration capabilities for global deployments and subscriptions.

The higher data speeds, lower latency and higher device capacity in 5G are set to transform the IoT market, enabling OEMs, electronics and other industrial companies to support enhanced mobile broadband, reliable communications and massive machine-type communication use cases that were not possible without 5G. 

While the benefits of LPWA are already clear, according to research analyst firm Transforma Insights, LPWA IoT connections are expected to grow to four billion in 2030. This comes as more organisations take advantage of the technological benefits, and the demand for applications sending smaller data packets and using low power communications over long distances becomes prevalent.