Logistics giant DHL and tech titan Huawei Technologies will test a Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) network to connect trucks carrying parts and other assets to an automotive assembly plant in Liuzhou, China.
The firms expect to expand the tests, which will remain in the proof-of-concept phase until the end of September, to other areas of China once this initial phase is completed. NB-IoT is a low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) standard designed to connect enterprise IoT devices that use very little power and transmit very little data.
The move could give NB-IoT a much needed boost.
And the payoff from that could be large — even if NB-IoT’s growth is primarily driven by the Chinese market. North America currently leads in IoT adoption, but spending on connected devices in China will rise to $121 billion in 2022, according to Markets and Markets. That alone could make NB-IoT relevant even if it’s unable to overtake LoRa in other core markets like North America.