LTE Cat-1 Bis is on track to power 95% of all Cat-1 IoT modules by 2030. This on-demand webinar gives you a hands-on look at what it really takes to get Cat-1 Bis devices deployed and performing at scale.
You’ll learn from module manufacturer SIMCom, IoT connectivity experts Onomondo, and Circle Gas who will share their experiences in switching from NB-IoT to LTE Cat-1 Bis.
Watch the full webinar here or read the summary below.
Why the 2G sunset makes Cat-1 Bis mandatory
Mobile network sunsets are accelerating — and they’re far from uniform. Operators are reallocating spectrum for 5G, regulators are tightening security (legacy 2G/3G have well-known vulnerabilities), and keeping old networks running is increasingly uneconomic. That combination creates a real operational risk for devices built to last 5–15 years.
Cat-1 Bis (3GPP Rel-13) is mature and widely deployed. It includes the low-power primitives IoT teams care about (PSM/eDRX) and, crucially, it runs on LTE infrastructure that is already more ubiquitous than LTE-M or NB-IoT in many markets. In short: Cat-1 Bis is the pragmatic, secure LTE baseline for long-lived, global IoT fleets — provided you validate operator support regionally.
Key takeaway: Plan Cat-1 Bis as your global baseline — it closes the coverage, security and longevity gap left by 2G.
Coverage & specs: what Cat-1 Bis gives you — and what you must verify
Cat-1 Bis gives the broadest LTE footprint for IoT devices, making it the best single-SKU choice for cross-border scale. The spec supports PSM and eDRX, and it can deliver the OTA throughput you need for firmware updates and diagnostics. But spec ≠operator behaviour: MNOs don’t always enable or tune these features consistently. SMS/OTA reliability, roaming policies and routing (local breakout vs. home-routed) differ by operator and country — and those differences change device behavior in the field.
Onomondo’s blunt advice: before betting on a technology, validate PSM/eDRX availability, SMS and OTA reliability, roaming behaviour and routing per MNO in every market you target.
Key takeaway: Cat-1 Bis gives the widest LTE footprint — but verify PSM/eDRX, SMS/OTA and roaming per operator before you scale, because operator variability is a major driver of indirect connectivity costs.
Best-fit use cases: where Cat-1 Bis beats LTE-M and NB-IoT
Cat-1 Bis sits between NB-IoT (ultra-low data, static) and LTE-M (mobile, low power). It’s the right choice when your device needs mobility, reliable handover, and the ability to receive large OTA updates — think asset trackers, telematics, EV chargers, POS terminals and industrial devices that must roam and be maintained remotely.
NB-IoT still wins for tiny, static sensors with ultra-low throughput needs. LTE-M is still preferable where operators deliver broad, deep PSM/eDRX support and extreme power savings. The practical rule: choose Cat-1 Bis for single-SKU, global, mobile deployments; reserve LPWANs only for the truly constrained, static cases.
Key takeaway: Pick Cat-1 Bis for mobile, OTA-dependent global devices; use LPWAN where static, ultra-low-data is the clear fit.
Hardware & power: why faster transfers can be more efficient
Module prices for Cat-1 Bis have fallen quickly as chipsets scaled — and many new modules omit 2G entirely, accelerating migration. But the most important engineering fact is this: the modem’s transmit event drives peak energy. The faster you complete a transfer, the shorter the high-current window — and the lower the energy per successful transmission.
Lab and field data show Cat-1 Bis can finish payloads far faster than NB-IoT or LTE-M, which in many real traffic patterns turns into meaningful battery savings. That said, real-world energy depends on RF conditions, antenna and band choices, operator PSM/eDRX rollout, retry rates and OTA sizes — always benchmark energy per successful transfer under realistic conditions.
Key takeaway: Don’t assume older = lower power — for many real traffic patterns Cat-1 Bis’s faster transfers reduce energy per transaction.
Field-proof: Circle Gas — reliability, OTA and the ugly tradeoffs
Circle Gas’s pay-as-you-go LPG meters show the stakes. NB-IoT worked inside Nairobi but failed to scale regionally, so they moved to Cat-1 Bis with a 2G fallback to guarantee coverage across markets. Their real-world metrics are stark: ~1.8M cooking sessions/day, a 36-hour billing migration outage that stopped top-ups, and ~8% of Cat-1 Bis attempts falling back to 2G in Kenya.
In the field Cat-1 Bis reduced retries, sped OTA, and lowered weekly energy for their workload — but the 2G fallback remains a painful, pragmatic compromise that increased TCO and added battery implications. Circle Gas’s lesson: field testing trumps datasheets; reliability human-costs matter; and fallback policies must be modeled into your TCO.
Key takeaway: Field data matters: Cat-1 Bis improved reliability and OTA throughput for Circle Gas, and a great plan for fallback and market-specific TCO.
Closing summary
Cat-1 Bis is the production-ready LTE foundation for scaling global IoT: broad, reliable coverage, OTA-friendly throughput and the potential for real energy savings in the field. But success isn’t automatic — it depends on three practises:
- Per-MNO validation — confirm PSM/eDRX, SMS/OTA and roaming behavior in every market.
- Field benchmarking — measure energy per successful transmission (including retries and OTA) under real RF conditions.
- Multi-market pilots — expose billing, SIM and routing quirks before you scale.
If you want to move from theory to production, Onomondo will run the technical audit, validate operator behaviour across target markets, and deliver a reproducible migration playbook so your devices get to market — and stay there.
Cat-1 Bis — proven in the field, built to scale.