LTE-M

LTE-M or LTE-MTC ("Long-Term Evolution Machine Type Communication") is a type of low-power wide-area network radio communication technology standard developed by 3GPP for machine-to-machine and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.^[1][2] LTE-M includes eMTC ("enhanced Machine Type Communication"), also known as LTE Cat-M1, whose specification was frozen in June 2016 as part of 3GPP Release 13 (LTE Advanced Pro),^[3] as well as LTE Cat-M2.^[4]

Competing 3GPP IoT technologies include NB-IoT and EC-GSM-IoT.^[5] The advantage of LTE-M over NB-IoT is its comparatively higher data rate, mobility, and voice over the network, but it requires more bandwidth, is more costly, and cannot be put into guard band portion of the frequency band for now.^[6] Compared to LTE Release 12 Cat-0 modem, an LTE-M model is claimed to be 80% less expensive (in terms of the bill of materials), support up to 18 dB better coverage, and a battery lifetime that can last up to several years.^[7] In March 2019, the Global Mobile Suppliers Association reported that over 100 operators had deployed/launched either NB-IoT or LTE-M networks.^[8]

3GPP Narrowband Cellular Standards

v t e [9][10]	LTE Cat 1	LTE Cat 1 bis	LTE-M				NB-IoT		EC-GSM-IoT
			LC-LTE/MTCe	eMTC
			LTE Cat 0	LTE Cat M1	LTE Cat M2	non-BL	LTE Cat NB1	LTE Cat NB2
3GPP release	Release 8	Release 13	Release 12	Release 13	Release 14	Release 14	Release 13	Release 14	Release 13
Downlink peak rate	10 Mbit/s	10 Mbit/s	1 Mbit/s	1 Mbit/s	~4 Mbit/s	~4 Mbit/s	26 kbit/s	127 kbit/s	474 kbit/s (EDGE) 2 Mbit/s (EGPRS2B)
Uplink peak rate	5 Mbit/s	5 Mbit/s	1 Mbit/s	1 Mbit/s	~7 Mbit/s	~7 Mbit/s	66 kbit/s (multi-tone) 16.9 kbit/s (single-tone)	159 kbit/s	474 kbit/s (EDGE) 2 Mbit/s (EGPRS2B)
Latency	50–100 ms		not deployed	10–15 ms			1.6–10 s		700 ms – 2 s
Number of antennas	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1–2
Duplex mode	Full duplex		Full or half duplex	Full or half duplex	Full or half duplex	Full or half duplex	Half duplex	Half duplex	Half duplex
Device receive bandwidth	1.4–20 MHz		1.4–20 MHz	1.4 MHz	5 MHz	5 MHz	180 kHz	180 kHz	200 kHz
Receiver chains	2 (MIMO)		1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)	1 (SISO)	1–2
Device transmit power	23 dBm	23 dBm	23 dBm	20 / 23 dBm	20 / 23 dBm	20 / 23 dBm	20 / 23 dBm	14 / 20 / 23 dBm	23 / 33 dBm

Deployments

As of March 2019 the Global Mobile Suppliers Association had identified:^[8]

• 60 operators in 35 countries investing in LTE-M networks
• 34 of those operators in 24 countries had deployed/launched their networks

As of February 2022, GSMA had listed LTE-M as being launched on 60 commercial networks.^[11]

See also

• NB-IoT
• 6LoWPAN
• Sigfox
• LoRa / LoRaWAN
• NB-Fi
• Weightless (wireless communications)
• DASH7
• LTE User Equipment Categories
• Multefire
• LTE sidelink
• 802.11ah (Wi-FI HaLow)