Hologram has the UK covered with LTE-M and CAT 1 bis connectivity
If you are developing or running cellular IoT devices in the UK, you don’t need us to tell you about coverage challenges, especially low bandwidth connectivity like LTE-M and CAT 1 bis. Good news! Hologram can solve your headache with reliable LTE-M and CAT 1 bis for your cellular IoT devices in the UK. In this blog, we cover our services, as well as answers to FAQs about LTE-M and CAT 1 bis connectivity.
Click the links below to jump to what you need:
What coverage does Hologram offer in the UK?
How do I manage my devices if I move to Hologram for LTE-M or CAT 1 bis connectivity?
What is the technology behind LTE-M and CAT 1 bis?
What are the best use cases for each?
Hologram delivers LTE-M and CAT 1 bis connectivity in the UK today
What coverage does Hologram offer in the UK?
No matter your use case, Hologram has you covered. Hologram offers multiple connectivity options in the UK: 5G, 4G (LTE), 3G, 2G, NB-IOT, and LTE-M. These are all available on our G3 profile that gives you access in 190+ countries and 550+ roaming networks.
How do I manage my devices if I move to Hologram for LTE-M or CAT 1 bis connectivity?
We’ve made it easy to activate and manage devices in our Hologram Dashboard. This cellular connectivity management tool provides you with actionable, real-time information about your devices. It gives you a single source of truth for your operations – any size fleet, anywhere in the world, anytime.
The Dashboard makes it easy to deploy one or one hundred thousand devices with our seamless activation. Just a few clicks and your devices are live. You can streamline the process even more with pre-deployment testing using Hologram Test Mode to test devices and automatically activate upon deployment.
With the real-time data in the Hologram Dashboard, you also gain insight into your operations. You can quickly look across thousands of devices on different networks and different countries, or drill down to see every detail about a SIM, all in one view. Plus, a complete reports suite delivers details into your SIMs and SIM usage with the real-time Data Usage Overview Report and reports aggregated By SIM, By SIM and Day, and By Session.
What is the technology behind LTE-M and CAT 1 bis?
It’s always good to make sure you are using the best connectivity for your specific use case as standards and technology are consistently being improved.
LTE-M (aka CAT M) is a LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) connectivity technology that extends the capabilities of LTE networks for IoT applications. Cat M is designed for low power consumption, making it ideal for battery-operated devices with minimal data needs. It uses a low-frequency, narrow band of spectrum and supports download speeds of up to 1 Mbps. LTE-M offers lower data rates and reduced complexity compared to traditional LTE, resulting in lower module costs which can be ideal for large-scale IoT deployments that do not need to be real-time.
LTE CAT 1 bis (aka CAT 1 bis) is a 4G wireless technology designed for IoT applications. CAT 1bis is a version of LTE Cat 1 that uses a single receive (Rx) antenna rather than two. It supports higher upload speeds (up to 10 Mbps), delivers broad coverage, and low power consumption.
What are the key differences?
There are several key differences that can impact your choice:
Data speed: LTE-M has a downlink limit of 375 kb/s and an uplink limit of 1 Mb/s. Cat 1 Bis offers higher data rates compared to Cat M with up to 10 Mb/s downlink and 5 MB/s uplink, making it ideal for applications requiring moderate data transfers. However, many IoT devices do not need this speed.
Power consumption: Both are great for low power consumption operation which maximizes battery life. However, Cat 1 bis consumes slightly more power than LTE-M due to its higher bandwidth capabilities. If your device is going to be in use for a significant amount of time (5-10 years), limiting the power consumption can be valuable. Cat 1 Bis supports Power Saving Mode (PSM) and extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX), ideal for battery powered applications.
Network coverage: LTE-M and Cat-1 bis will work in many indoor scenarios, but they are designed with geographic dispersity and mobility in mind. That means they can support devices on the move, for example those in fleet management. Cat 1 bis generally has wider network availability compared to Cat M, especially in certain regions. While both run on 4G/5G networks, not all cellular service providers offer LTE-M in all areas. (Remember - Hologram has the UK covered for both!)
What are the best use cases for each?
Ideal use cases for CAT 1 bis
Cat 1 bis is ideal for asset tracking, smart meters, transportation and logistics, micro mobility and automotive telematics that typically use battery power. In addition to low latency, LTE Cat 1bis delivers 20 MHz bandwidth compared to 1.4 MHz for LTE-M. The higher bandwidth also means devices can transmit data faster. Less time in the air can translate into less battery usage and extend the life of the device. LTE Cat 1 bis technology operates with only one antenna, unlike the standard Cat 1 which requires two antennas, making Cat 1 bis devices smaller, more cost-effective, and easier to design due to its simplified antenna setup.
Ideal use cases for LTE-M
LTE-M is designed to be power-efficient, making it ideal for battery-operated devices with low data usage and periodic data transmission like asset tracking with low data rates/low power requirements, remote environmental sensors, monitoring devices in agriculture, battery-powered smart meters, environmental monitoring systems, and pet trackers.
Both LTE-M and CAT 1bis are ideal for low power and wide area communications. LTE-M excels in power efficiency for battery-constrained IoT devices with low data usage and periodic data transmission. CAT 1 bis delivers faster data speeds, lower latency, and real-time data transmission or frequent large data transfers, like remote video monitoring.
Hologram delivers LTE-M and CAT 1 bis connectivity in the UK today
We know that access to LTE-M is notoriously difficult in the UK. Hologram has assured access through our partners and is able to provide customers with consistency and availability. As 2G and 3G networks decline from 8% market share in 2024 to less than 1% by 2028, businesses are migrating to LTE-M for the host of benefits we highlighted above. CAT 1 bis is also expected to grow significantly for use cases requiring a higher throughput. Hologram covers both.