narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)

Narrowband IoT or NB-IoT is a wireless communication standard for the Internet of Things in its different forms. NB-IoT belongs to the category of low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN), enabling to connect devices that need small amounts of data, low bandwidth, and long battery life. This makes it suitable for a variety of applications and use cases for IoT.

NB-IoT and two other standards in the LPWAN family (although not everyone agrees all belong to that family, yet it’s broadly accepted) are the first and for many years to come only cellular LPWAN standards (with 5G and IoT on the horizon).

In practice, you will mainly see comparisons between NB-IoT and LTE-M though because these are the two options the mobile industry ecosystem of manufacturers, service providers, and network operators pushing both want you to select between and because it makes sense from the cellular perspective.

When to Use LTE Cat M for IoT Devices

What Is the Difference Between Cat-M1 and NB-IoT?