Telecommunication company SPTel has launched Singapore’s first sensor network powered by LoRaWan.

The joint venture company of ST Engineering and SP Group is using its hubs in Singapore to build a sensor network nationally, starting with the heartlands, to increase the accessibility of IoT technologies and sensors for business applications, government projects and smart nation initiatives.

The network allows authenticated sensor devices to connect wirelessly to a secure IoT-as-a-service platform and backhaul connectivity. Instead of investing to build their own network, businesses and IoT providers can connect to this network.

Data collected from LoRaWan sensors can be sent for analysis to automate manual processes, enable predictive maintenance, increase productivity and improve overall operational efficiency.

The LoRaWan gateways, which run on solar energy, are also cost efficient and fast to deploy.

LoRaWan is a long-range, bidirectional communication protocol with very low power consumption. This makes it sustainable for the long-term deployment of sensors and a boost to scale massive deployment of potential smart applications quickly such as asset tracking, street lighting, waste management, water level and flood management, air quality control, and rodent monitoring in hawker centres and wet markets to enable targeted and effective pest control.

Network coverage extends to more than 70% of heartlands, 42% hawker centres and 52% town councils, and will continue to expand to meet the growing needs of partners and users.

“The SPTel sensor network is a great leap towards a comprehensive and reliable offering for IoT providers,” said Titus Yong, CEO of SPTel. “Businesses can tap on this ready infrastructure to jumpstart their IoT applications in a fast, flexible, and affordable manner. With the assurance that gateways are implemented on ultra-secure critical infrastructure locally and on a robust end-to-end IoT-as-a-service platform, there is peace of mind over data sovereignty and security. Businesses and government agencies can focus on ramping up their digitalisation efforts towards IoT adoption nationwide. Besides being another step forward in our digital roadmap, this places us in a strong position to capture growth opportunities from growing IoT demands.”

SPTel is a joint venture company of ST Engineering and SP Group. It uses fibre pathways that combine leased SP Group infrastructure and owned fibre pipes, laid alongside the power network cables. Through this, SPTel provides a differentiated design and diverse business class digital network for enterprises and mission critical businesses.