SK Telecom shares price for IoT services

SK Telecom IoT price plansSK Telecom, a leading mobile service provider in Korea, has completed the deployment of Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) based on LoRa technology.

SK Telecom also announced the price plans for LoRa-based IoT services.

Lee Hyung-hee, president of Mobile Network Business at SK Telecom, said: “SK Telecom will develop and offer a wide variety of IoT services designed to offer new value for customers, while working closely with partners including SMEs and startups to vitalize the IoT ecosystem.”

The company’s LoRaWAN covers 99 percent of the population. By securing both nationwide LTE-M and LoRaWAN, which are two main pillars of the IoT network, SK Telecom is ready to create business opportunities in the IoT era.

SK Telecom plans to offer attractive price plans and develop innovative IoT services, while offering strong support for SMEs. The company will invest KRW 100 billion by the end of 2017. SK Telecom aims to connect over 4 million things to its IoT-dedicated networks by the end of 2017.

SK Telecom on Monday said its Band IoT plans come in six different tiers. The price of Band IoT 35 is approx. $0.3 or KRW 350, while the cost of Band IoT 200 will be KRW 2,000 or approx. $1.75 – depending on data use. The Band Lora plans are affordable – costing one-tenth of SK Telecom’s LTE-based IoT services.

A gas meter, which transmits small amount of data, can be used by signing up for Band IoT 35, while a service that requires real-time communication like lighting control service can be used by signing up for Band IoT 200.

SK Telecom plans to develop services in the areas of metering, tracking and monitoring. SK Telecom is also developing in tracking services to identify and track the location of vehicles, people/things, and assets. In cooperation with the local governments, the company plans to launch “Safe Watch,” a wearable designed to enhance the safety of children and the elderly in July 2016.

The company plans to launch a total of 20 LoRa-based IoT services by the end of 2016, including a manhole monitoring service (in September) and a real-time shared parking service (in October).

SK Telecom began providing LoRa modules free of charge on July 1, 2016. The company will provide a total of 100,000 units of LoRa modules for free.