Verizon announces availability of world's first Cat1 LTE network features for IoT, Expands its ThingSpace Platform

NEW YORK, Dec. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its global strategy to simplify the Internet of Things (IoT), Verizon today announced new developments that further expand its IoT portfolio including:

• The availability of world's first Cat1 LTE network features for IoT – ideal for use cases that were previously developed for 2G. Verizon's LTE network now makes the value proposition for connecting Cat1 IoT applications on LTE in the U.S. as affordable as alternative technologies and leverages LTE's reliability.
• Equipping developers with additional tools on its ThingSpace platform with an expanded set of application program interfaces (APIs) and application enablement platforms (AEPs) including the integration of Bug Labs' dweet™ APIs and freeboard™ visualization engine. These new tools enable developers to quickly and easily connect their devices to the Internet, publish the data and create real-time interactive dashboards and control panels visualizing that device data.

Today's announcement comes on the eve of an IoT developer event to be held at Verizon's Innovation Center in Waltham, Mass., where a wide-range of coders will get a hands-on look at the ThingSpace platform. Participating event partners include Renesas, Arrow Electronics and Bug Labs.

"Our goal is to help accelerate market adoption for IoT by making the ecosystem as accessible as possible for developers to bring their solutions to market," said Mark Bartolomeo, vice president, IoT Connected Solutions at Verizon.  "Between our ThingSpace APIs and an expanded set of Cat1 devices deployed on our LTE network we are providing this largely underserved market with the tools needed for endless IoT solutions to be deployed at scale."

Chipset platforms currently certified on Verizon's LTE network include Sequans and Altair. Earlier this year, Encore networks certified the world's first Cat1 IoT router solution on Verizon's LTE network.

"By incorporating Bug Labs' AEP capabilities into ThingSpace, it's the first time that developers and customers can use Verizon to manage their devices at both the application and network levels – allowing for the creation of new innovations to be delivered to more people," Bartolomeo added.

Peter Semmelhack, founder and CEO of Bug Labs commented: "We are thrilled to be working with Verizon to simplify the development of IoT applications and products. Our dweet and freeboard platforms were specifically designed to make it easy to get started and see results quickly. As part of Verizon's ThingSpace platform, developers now have a complete set of tools to go from prototype to commercial launch quickly and efficiently."

Making agriculture even smarter

Verizon continues to identify new opportunities to work with the broader IoT ecosystem to enhance its vertical market solutions. Recently, the company began an early adopter drone trial with PrecisionHawk, a market leader in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and aerial data analysis, to develop a mapping and analytics solution for the agriculture industry.

The Verizon/PrecisionHawk UAV pilot was deployed at Hahn Estate, a family-owned winery based in the Santa Lucia Highlands, in California's Monterey County. Aerial data collected to run specific crop algorithms could help vineyard owners identify disease, estimate yield and harvest more effectively. LTE-enabled UAVs are currently not part of the trial.

"By demonstrating the value of high-resolution UAV data and analysis, we can help growers in both agriculture and viticulture such as Hahn Estate, make more informed in-season decisions to assist with resource management and increased yield year-over-year," Bartolomeo continued.

Verizon provides global IoT coverage in more than 100 countries with plans to expand its footprint in the coming months to nearly 200 countries.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) employs a diverse workforce of 177,900 and generated more than $127 billion in 2014 revenues. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 110.8 million retail connections nationwide. Headquartered in New York, Verizon also provides communications and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/news/.

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SOURCE Verizon

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