Rapid technological advances in the past made possible the miniaturization of network devices to meet the cost and power consumption requirements in IoT and M2M scenarios. What is missing in this picture is a radio technology with both long range capability and a very low cost footprint. Existing radio technologies such as 3G/4G or Short Range Radio do not aptly meet the requirements of IoT scenarios because they are either too expensive or are not able to provide the required range. Other wireless technologies are geared towards high bandwidth which is in most cases not a requirement for IoT.
Emerging LPWAN technologies such as ETSI LTN or LoRAWAN are poised for filling the gap by providing long range (up to 40km) and low power connectivity. These technologies allow low cost radio devices and operation thus enabling scaling up IoT applications.