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Region-Wide Network | Smart Shires LoRaWAN

LoRaWAN IoT Case Study

Overview

We have been awarded the contract to supply 30 LoRaWAN base-stations, maintenance and professional services and a range of IoT sensor devices for the Smart Shires consortium of councils in central Victoria.

Golden Plains Shire Council, Hepburn Shire Council and Moorabool Shire Council have united to create public and private LoRaWAN coverage to large parts of the area. Our implemented coverage will also link-up with coverage provided by City of Ballarat, City of Greater Geelong and Corangamite Shire Councils. The Smart Shires LoRaWAN network will be one of the largest contiguous free-to-access IoT networks in Australia.

The consortium was granted $750,000 as part of the Victorian Government Rural Councils Transformation Grants program to build the network and assist with the adoption of the technology. This means residents, businesses and producers within coverage will be able to deploy sensors on The Things Network (TTN) with no cost of transmission. The councils and commercial users have the choice of deploying sensor devices in the field on TTN, or on MeshedX, the industrial-strength Meshed private LoRaWAN. This network uses the same base-station infrastructure for both public and private networks to eliminate any expensive duplication.

Another innovation that was important to council was the ability for commercial third parties and utilities to potentially pay for access to the LoRaWAN coverage. This will provide the municipalities cost recovery to assist network maintenance. Furthermore, this will also deter further infrastructure duplication.

Project

Region-Wide LoRaWAN Network

Clients
Endless possibilities with LoRaWAN

Using the network for a better region

Initial use-cases of the Smart Shires LoRaWAN include:

  • People counting
  • Traffic counting
  • Soil moisture sensing
  • Water tank monitoring
  • River flood level monitoring
  • Micro-climate sensing
  • Electric fence monitors
Using LoRaWAN to boost productivity

Smart agriculture for a smart region

The LoRaWAN infrastructure will deliver benefit with better asset visibility, management and planning. The Smart Shires consortium has a large proportion of agricultural land use, so farmers will be able to deploy sensors to help cut costs and boost the productivity of their businesses.

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