Why NB‑IoT Is Poised to Power the Next IoT Revolution in China

On September 27‑30, 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology hosted the 2017 China International Information Communication Exhibition at the National Convention Center, alongside the 13th "ICT China·2017 High‑Level Forum".

During the forum, Minister Wen Ku emphasized that NB‑IoT is a key technology for massive connections and the Internet of Everything, expected to account for over 60% of IoT demand.

NB‑IoT’s wide coverage, low power, and low cost address longstanding challenges of cost, energy consumption, and network efficiency, driving extensive IoT applications across industries.

China’s development plan (2016‑2020) calls for building comprehensive NB‑IoT infrastructure and scaling its use in cities and key sectors, supported by policies such as the “Notice on Accelerating NB‑IoT Construction” and frequency usage requirements.

2017 marked the commercial rollout year, with the three major telecom operators deploying nationwide NB‑IoT networks; examples include over 900 districts in Fuzhou upgrading to NB‑IoT smart water meters and Yingtan achieving nearly 20,000 NB‑IoT users.

Despite progress, challenges remain: industry awareness, standardization, public‑facing platforms, and security. Incidents like a 2017 hack on electric meters highlight the need for stronger protection.

Wen Ku proposed four actions: accelerate NB‑IoT development and migration from GPRS, promote standardization of communication module interfaces, speed up infrastructure deployment for nationwide coverage, and strengthen security across chips, networks, and platforms.