LTE can compete with upstart IoT networks, Verizon says

Much of the Internet of Things will run on the same networks that smartphones use, cellular giant Verizon says.

Despite the prospect of new networks that reach farther than cells and let IoT devices communicate for years on one battery charge, many of the power-sipping networked objects to be deployed in the coming years will use LTE and future 5G cellular systems, a Verizon executive said in an interview Wednesday.

Many legacy IoT devices, also called M2M (machine-to-machine), use 2G or 3G networks now. Carriers want to phase those out in the coming years to shift their frequencies over to newer networks.

Verizon wants to be a one-stop shop for IoT, the collection of sensors, wearable devices and networked machines that's now rolling out around the world. It's an important growth opportunity for the carrier, one of the two dominant mobile operators in the U.S., though Verizon says it's got services to offer IoT companies even if they use someone else's network.

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