What is NB-IoT (CAT-M1)?
NB-IoT (Narrowband – Internet of Things) is the wireless cellular (think mobile phone) communication protocol for IoT and is a LPWAN service that operates in the licensed spectrum. Compare this to LoRaWAN which operates in the unlicensed spectrum. NB-IoT is delivered based on existing cellular network infrastructure (cellular LAN). 

Whereas mobile phones can transmit a large amount of data, instantaneously, including videos this comes at the cost of battery usage within mobile phones. NB-IoT is a low power wide area network (LPWAN) offering that can: 

• Transmit data over a larger distance (if you do not have cellular coverage, you may have NB- IoT coverage). 
• Operate with minimal use of batteries. 

The following video provides a summary of NB-IoT (Narrowband – Internet of Things). 

 

NB-IoT Australian Coverage
IoT network providers such as Telstra provide coverage maps on their websites (Link). These mobile phone coverage maps do not guarantee an accurate representation of signal availability.