SK Telecom (SKT), the largest mobile operator in South Korea, highlighted success in the IoT sector, surpassing 1 million connections on its low power wide area (LPWA) networks following rapid growth on its LTE-M service.

The number of LTE-M (also known as Cat M1) connections reached 780,000 at end-September, implying the remainder are on a LoRa network deployed in the first half of 2016.

SKT launched the LTE-M network in April 2018.

In a statement, the company said it plans to take the lead in the hyper-connected era through projects such as monitoring energy consumption.

Its range of IoT services includes monitoring water, gas and solar facilities, along with control of street lighs.

SKT introduced a dedicated IoT portal to support the overall ecosystem, and an open house to help start-ups develop and launch products.