We'll hit THAT 95% Sigfox coverage target using telly aerials, says WND-UK

Re: That's nice

IoT spanners? I know it's nuts but I can't think of anything else to use it for.

Re: That's nice

The demand for Sigfox and other similar solutions isn't primarily domestic consumer business: that is probably best served by WiFi, combined with either permanent power or phone-style recharging. The demand is primarily for applications which either need wide area coverage (like lorry or package tracking) or very low power (like collars that can be put on livestock and left without recharging for the lifetime of the animal, or monitoring of water flow and quality in streams).

Meter reading may also be a case (because it is hard to ask your customer to provide the power and connectivity necessary for you to send them a bill).

So, I expect that ordinary people won't do much with it. But that doesn't mean it won't be big. Personally I think these business uses are the real IoT business case.

Re: Note that "95% coverage by population" Ionica

IIRC the business case for Ionica was based on a successful roll out in countries without an existing infrastructure.

Going up against an established Telco with a virtual monopoly turned out to be different.

This does sound hauntingly similar. South America for previous success?

Re: Soooo...

My initial thoughts.

However the base station has a Yagi allegedly covered by existing planning laws (thus allegedly avoiding the planning regulations for mobile phone base stations). Nothing about the consumer equipment which will be transmitting to the base station.

Re: Soooo...

Well, given that satellite installers typically run the cable down the wall and drill straight through into the living room, most people would accept a less tidy job. However, where they've already abandoned their terrestrial TV for Mr. Murdoch, they could use the existing aerial cabling and simply plug into the existing IEC 61169-2 connector on the wall.

Re: Am I completely missing the point?

why can't these non-defined 'things' use the existing infrastructure of wired broadband and non-wired internet already blanketing the country?

Good question. The main answer is very low power devices. Don't think about consumer devices (they will be connected to the mains, or be rechargeable). Think about devices that are installed somewhere (inside a water meter, in a river, around the neck of a cow, on a container when it ships from China) and never touched. There are many use cases which only need to transmit a few bytes a day but need to last for many years without being touched.

Current mobile phone protocols can't support these sorts of devices. NB-IoT can (that is what the NB bit is about) but it doesn't exist yet. SigFox and LoRaWAN are trying to get up and running with blanket coverage before the mobile phone companies can roll out NB-IoT. Being first to market obviously puts them in a strong position (although there are also significant technical, and commercial business model, differences between the solutions).

[Full disclosure: my employer sells some of these technologies, although the above is my personal opinion only]

Re: Yagi?

Yagis are indeed directional, so presumably the base station is off to one side of the area they intend to service, and ideally above, looking down. In some scenarios that would work better than an omni in the middle because it's a more efficient use of your broadcasting power. The customers would have another Yagi to catch the signal from the base station.

I can't see them hitting 95% coverage over the whole UK with that setup though.

Re: Yagi?

"I don't know a lot about radio transmissions but aren't Yagis directional? "

Yes, but only El Reg ever mentioned Yagis in the article. The actual quotes only ever say "will look, for all intents and purposes, like a domestic TV aerial". I strongly doubt this will be directional and aimed per house. It's referred to a base station, which implies area coverage.