U-blox drives the world's first NB-IOT smart street light system

     U-blox, a global leader in wireless and positioning modules and chips, announced that its SARA-N2 series NB-IoT (LTE Cat NB1) modules have been adopted by Flashnet in Romania. Launched the world's first narrowband IoT(NB-IoT) connected intelligent street light control system - inteliLIGHT. The pilot scheme has been deployed on the network of the OTE Group, Greece's leading telecommunications operator, in the city of Patras.

     At present, there are hundreds of deployment projects around the world, and InteliLIGHT smart street light remote management solutions use a number of communication protocols and have been verified. Recognizing the strategic importance of NB-iot, Flashnet chose to partner with u-blox to develop the FRE‑220‑NB family of lighting controllers compatible with the NB-iot standard.

     The new series of controllers can be built into most lighting equipment and provide individual remote control (on/off, dimming) functions for LED street lights with electronic ballast up to 400W. Its intelligent control functions can be extended to monitor various electrical parameters, with over-the-air (OTA) updates and support for autonomous operation.

     The NB-iot protocol locks IoT applications with low bandwidth requirements and is therefore the ideal communication protocol choice for smart lighting. As part of the LTE standard, NB-iot is supported by the existing LTE infrastructure to provide carrier-grade reliability and security, as well as excellent penetration and stability. u-blox's SARA‑N2 series is the world's first NB-iot module that successfully combines ultra-low power consumption with a wide operating temperature range in a compact LGA(Flat Grid Array) package size.

     Lorand Mozes, CEO of Flashnet, said: "The connected street lighting industry has adopted a variety of communication protocols. We believe that the industry is ready for NB-iot. Thanks to our partnership with u-blox, we are the first supplier to offer a robust and fully functional portfolio. By selecting u‑blox's SARA‑N2 module, we were able to bring the FRE‑220NB series NB-iot connected lighting to market in a very short period of time to complement our existing products and provide our customers with a better choice."

     Samuele Falcomer, Product Manager for Honeycomb at u‑blox, says: "The NB-iot standard promises to drive rapid progress in smart cities. The partnership with Flashnet to bring the FRE‑220NB series of lighting controllers to market demonstrates that the SARA-N2 series of modules can support all applications that benefit from NB-iot connectivity in a variety of industries."

     Flashnet's pilot program is currently underway worldwide to demonstrate the reliability of NB-IoT technology, with plans to expand to larger scale street lighting control installations. Given the market potential and evolution of connected street lights, Flashnet expects to sell hundreds of thousands of controllers in three to five years.