KPN continues to expand its global LTE-M roaming footprint

March 2021

Since 2018, KPN has a nationwide LTE-M network in the Netherlands. LTE-M roaming was commercially introduced in 2019 by AT&T, Orange, Swisscom and KPN. Since then, new operators have been adding to the footprint on a continuous basis.

In the last few months, KPN has closed 6 new roaming agreements. This brings the total number of agreements to 16 and expands the global LTE-M roaming footprint significantly. Carolien Nijhuis, Managing Director of KPN IoT, states the following about this growth: “We are very happy that we can now provide our customers with access to the LTE-M networks of Telefonica (Spain), Telenor (Denmark), DNA (Finland), Spark (New Zealand), Softbank (Japan) and Tele2 (Sweden). Many of our partners and customers distribute their products globally, so seamless roaming is essential for their services.” LTE-M is a low-power, wide area (LPWA) cellular technology that is specifically designed for M2M or IoT applications. It suits simple devices that transmit low volumes of data over long periods of time, and works well for large or growing deployments. Applications of LTE-M include tracking the location and condition of (moving) vehicles or other assets.

One company that benefits from KPN’s LTE-M connectivity is Trackunit. With their business in telematics, their goal is to eliminate downtime. To achieve this, it is crucial to detect and collect large amounts of data to provide the right insights to their customers. “The growing number of LTE-M roaming agreements at KPN allows Trackunit to expand into new markets, pursue previously unavailable business cases, and provide valuable insights to customers around the globe”, said Daniel Conradsen, Senior Business Engineer at Trackunit.

Since the roll out of LTE-M, expanding LTE-M coverage is a high priority for KPN. Carolien confirms: “We are convinced that we will announce additional agreements again soon.”

Overview of available LTE-M networks

Current LTE-M roaming partners of KPN*

*Status in March 2021