Huawei recently released the world's first 3GPP R14-based commercial NB-IoT solution in eRAN13.1. This latest NB-IoT solution can provide much better performance than its predecessors.

Affirmed Networks, a company specializing in virtualized mobile networks,  announced that du, part of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), has selected its Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) mobile core to provide an industry-leading 3GPP core network for IoT use cases, enabling a wide range of smart city use cases.

Ericsson will build a Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) system for Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest integrated telecommunications services company, enabling the island to take its first steps toward joining the Internet of Things (IoT). Chunghwa Telecom will use the system to trial a range of IoT devices and applications in its laboratory.

Nokia and Zain Saudi Arabia have taken a significant step towards the creation of an IoT ecosystem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the successful trial of NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) technology at a live site in Mina area of Makkah Province.

MTS, the largest telecommunications operator in Russia, and Ericsson, have agreed to upgrade the network of MTS. Ericsson will deliver the newest software features that will be continuously developed during the next three years.

Spanish telecom giant Telefónica and Huawei have announced the opening of an Open IoT Lab to work on the development of products and applications related to Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technology.

Turkish telecommunications operator Turkcell has announced that it will rollout Narrow-Band-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) in order. to support 'smart city' applications and innovations which will be introduced in different sectors all across the country

As the world now prepares for next-generation 5G networks knowing that rollouts are still three to five years away, companies like Apple, Samsung and Intel are working hard to ensure they stay ahead of the curve on 5G research and development. Chip giant Qualcomm believes there are incredibly complex challenges facing the industry as it attempts to bring 5G technology to commercial reality.

ZTE Corporation, a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, and Velcom, a branch of A1 Telekom Austria Group, jointly announced the deployment of the first scaled commercial Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network in Belarus. The network was deployed in Minsk city first and then in other regions accordingly as scheduled. So far, Velcom has verified smart metering and smart city solutions in the network.