NB-IoT/LTE-M connectivity in Portugal

[Gmaciek]

Hi,

This is a question targetted probably more to the community (epsecially portuguese part) than to Nordic support, but of course I will be very grateful for feedback from anyone.

I was hoping to be able to work on some projects with Thingy 91 in Portugal - however, the project requires being able to send data over internet, so I need either LTE-M or NB-IoT connectivity - and therefore appropriate IoT SIM card. This, though, seems to be an issue in Portugal.

There are few network providers there and three of them supposedly offer NB-IoT connectivity and sell IoT SIM cards. I have spent hours on phone calls to all of them, facing either consultants not knowing what IoT SIM card is, or others convinced that SIM card like that can be only sold to the company and not a private person and eventually I gave up. I tried using the Hologram SIM card - ended up on endless CEREG: 2 status, meaning searching for the network (the same card succesfully registered to network in Poland and in Norway). I read a post from someone here saying that also iBasis does not work in Portugal.

Is there anyone here who succeeded to get a working IoT SIM card in Portugal? Was it with one of portuguese providers or do you know any other company offering SIM cards that would work there?

Thanks!

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Hi,

Have you tried looking at Arkessa?

It looks like they support NB-IoT in Portugal: Arkessa LPWA coverage.

You can read more about our partnership with Arkessa here, or on Arkessas webpage.

Best regards,

Didrik

[Gmaciek]

Hi! Thanks for quick answer.

I haven't tried it, but I contacted them now. Seems promising from the official info, but - do you know if it's in any way "confirmed" that it works in Portugal? For example - is there anyone who managed to register to the network in Portugal, using Arkessa SIM card? Or even better - maybe someone used your boards there?

The reason for my doubts is that the Hologram SIM card was also supposed to have coverage there, and it turned out to be not so true...

Anyway, thanks for the hint!

[Didrik Rokhaug]

Looking at Hologram's webpage, it looks like they only support LTE-M in USA.

I assume that Arkessa has tested their SIMs in Portugal before listing it as supported. However, I am not personally aware of anyone who have done so.

You could also try to contact our Regional Sales Manager for Portugal. He might know about more customers in Portugal and how they solved this.

If you don't know how to contact the RSM for Portugal, send me a private message, and I will give the contact details.

[Lukáš]

Hi,

I assume that you already found out, but Arkessa uses Vodafone in Portugal which has very weak coverage there. 

[jmc499]

All three operators offer NB-IoT and it is implemented in all LTE cells. You can purchase NB-IoT SIM cards from any. NOS has a very good implementation and support for NB2-IoT.

LTE-M is being assessed and deployed by the Altice, NOS and Vodafone.