How Sigfox plans to spread its low-power IoT network across the U.S.

Sigfox, a French networking company whose technology is already supporting large Internet of Things (IoT) deployments in several countries in Europe, has its sights set on the U.S. market.

The company hasn’t been shy about its plans for U.S. expansion in 2016. By the end of the first quarter, Sigfox claims its networks will be up and running in 10 U.S. cities: San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, and Austin, Texas.

So, how does the company plan to accomplish this? And how can it succeed in establishing a nationwide network for the IoT?

What is Sigfox?

Sigfox deploys Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) that work in concert with hardware that manufacturers can integrate into their products. In terms of compatibility, the network takes a similar approach to traditional GSM networks. Any device with integrated Sigfox hardware can connect to the internet – in regions where a Sigfox network has been deployed – without any external hardware, like a Wi-Fi or Zigbee router. But, in another sense, the Sigfox network is entirely different than traditional GSM networks, in that it can only transmit small amounts of data, at just 100 bits per second.

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