American telecom network operator AT&T has decided to make investment in Cat-M and NB-IoT software to lower power consumption, cost and complexity of its 4G LTE network.

Ericsson said the new software will support a new generation of Internet of Things (IoT) apps and improve device performance on the AT&T 4G LTE network.

CAT-M technology supports next generation devices like wearables and utility meters, while Narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) supports next generation devices like smoke detectors, pollution monitors and industrial/agricultural sensors.

Power-saving mode and Extended DRX extend battery life of enabled IoT devices, letting them communicate in the field for up to 10 years, or more.

AT&T and Ericsson are displaying these technologies at the Mobile World Congress (MWC 2016) in Barcelona February 22-25 and expect to begin trials later this year.

Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Internet of Things, AT&T Mobility, said: “IoT solutions let businesses gather near real-time information on assets around the world. Working with Ericsson and our existing LTE systems, AT&T will continue to enable a wide variety of next generation IoT devices on our LTE network.”

Frost & Sullivan says 9 billion devices – excluding smartphones and tablets – are connected to the Internet. That figure is expected to rise to between 20 billion and 50 billion by 2020. The economic impact forecast is from $4 trillion to $11 trillion by 2025.