Narrowband-IoT as an Effective Developmental Strategy for Internet of Things in Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigerian Case Study

Abstract

With the recent standardization of Narrow-Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) as a category of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technology by the 3GPP, the endless possibilities it brings for IoT development cannot be overemphasized. Nigeria as a developing nation, has continued to struggle in the development and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The approach of this paper is basically to critically analyze the current state and the technological deficiencies of IoT development in Sub-Saharan Africa by using Nigeria as a case study, and to show how the emergence of NB-IoT can help to significantly improve the penetration and optimal development of this relatively modern technology in Nigeria and consequently in Africa, as it is in developed nations. Relevant features of NB-IoT are enumerated, we propose possible NB-IoT use cases that are suitable for the Nigerian eco-system and finally, we give a summarized developmental plan for the mobile network operators (MNOs) in Nigeria.