u-blox module first to be certified on U.S. Cellular’s new LTE Cat M1 network

u‑blox (SIX:UBXN), a leading global provider of positioning and wireless communication technologies, today announced that U.S. Cellular has certified its ultra-compact LTE Cat M1 SARA-R410M (https://www.u-blox.com/en/product/sara-r4n4-series) module, the first of its kind to run on the U.S. Cellular LTE Cat M1 network.

The compact module offers developers of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and machine to machine (M2M) communication systems a simple way to implement a low-power air interface. Certification on U.S. Cellular’s LTE Cat M1 network further eases the process of enabling wide-area wireless connectivity.

LTE Cat M1 is a low-power, wide-area (LPWA) cellular networking technology for devices with low to medium data-rate requirements (375kbit/s upload and download speeds in half-duplex mode). It has power-saving modes that extend battery lifetimes, and features that enable greater in-building range than cellular technologies such as 2G, 3G and LTE Cat 1.

Target markets for the SARA-R410M include asset tracking, smart metering, smart home, smart city, industrial monitoring, and transportation. U.S. Cellular is targeting services including utility metering and energy distribution grids, fleet and asset tracking, remote monitoring, and other business and government applications.

“The defining feature of IoT and M2M devices is connectivity. The flexibility of the u-blox SARA-R410M module, combined with its certification on U.S. Cellular’s dedicated LTE Cat M1 network, will make implementing such connectivity much simpler,” said Patty Felts, Principal Product Manager, Product Center Cellular at u‑blox.

“We want our business and government customers to have access to the latest IoT technology, so they can simplify and enhance their operations and cost-efficiently grow their business,” said Scott Scheuber, director of emerging product and services management at U.S. Cellular. “Having this u-blox module available to our IoT and M2M customers ensures that we are meeting their ever-changing needs and helping to set them up for future business success.”