South Korea Rolls Out New IoT Network

SK Telecom announced it completed the roll out of a nationwide IoT network six months ahead of schedule. The new network provides Low Power Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) coverage to 99% of South Korea, and the company says it will begin offering data plans specifically for IoT deployments.

“SK Telecom is proud to announce the nationwide deployment of LoRaWAN as it marks the first important step towards realizing connectivity between infinite number of things, going beyond the traditional role of telecommunications centered on connectivity between people,” says Lee Hyung-hee, President of Mobile Network Business at SK Telecom. “Going forward, SK Telecom will develop and offer a wide variety of IoT services designed to offer new value for customers, while working closely with partners including SMEs and startups to vitalize the IoT ecosystem.”

According to the July 4 announcement, the company will offer six tiers of IoT plans with varying prices and data allowances, starting with 100KB for .30 cents US per device per month, and going up to 100MB for $1.70USD per device per month. Companies looking to build multi-line or long term contracts qualify for discounts.

SK Telecom also announced the launch of a Partner Hub program to encourage businesses and startups to develop services and devices for the network. To get things started, the company is donating 100,000 LoRA modules to developers and running an IoT Open Testbed to offer training, marketing and consulting to their partners.

As part of its IoT-as-a-service offerings, the company stated it plans to develop metering, tracking and monitoring services, starting with Advanced Metering Infrastructure for utility companies. It is also developing a tracking service for vehicles, assets and people, starting with the upcoming release of a “Safe Watch” designed to track children and the elderly.

The company plans to launch 20 LoRa-based IoT services by the end of 2016.