Plan to distribute smart gas meters by 2019 after establishing the LoRa network

SK Telecom is entering the Chinese remote gas meter reading market with LoRa technology, a domestically proven dedicated IoT network.

SK Telecom announced that it has signed a four-party Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for business cooperation with the Chongqing Municipal Economic and Information Commission, Chongqing Gas, and China Mobile to jointly promote a LoRa network-based gas remote meter reading business in Chongqing, China. Chongqing Gas is the number one city gas provider in Chongqing (70% market share), supplying city gas to approximately 4.5 million households.

Chongqing City has established a mid-to-long-term plan to transform into a 'smart city' through ICT and is strengthening cooperation with Tencent, Hikvision, and others. This cooperation was also carried out to accelerate the transformation into a 'smart city' by applying Korea's advanced IoT technology.

As soon as the business feasibility of the project is verified, SK Telecom plans to start building a LoRa network in Chongqing with China Mobile and supply 'smart gas meters' to Chongqing Gas customers by 2019.

The 'smart gas meter' is a key device that allows users to remotely check gas usage via PC and smartphone and manage safety issues such as gas leaks. It is possible to manage efficiently as meter readers do not need to visit each of the 4.5 million households spread out like a spiderweb in Chongqing City individually.

Furthermore, SK Telecom expects to expand its business in the future not only through the gas remote meter reading business but also by securing and analyzing big data based on its established IoT network and providing IoT services specialized for China.

Cha In-hyuk, Head of the IoT Business Division at SK Telecom, stated, “Following our gas remote meter reading and smart street lighting businesses in China, we plan to provide various IoT services such as location tracking for the elderly and children, and vehicle positioning,” adding, “In the long term, we will create a business model that generates revenue based on big data collected through the IoT network in China.”