LoRa is a radio technology in common use that most people have never hear about. The LoRa Alliance recently reported that there are 150 million global devices connected by LoRa technology. LoRa is shorthand for Long Range and is a radio technology that sends small bits of data over long distances using little battery power. In the U.S., the LoRa technology uses unlicensed spectrum between 902 and 928 MHz.

There is a good chance that you are close to a device using the technology. Here are some of the common uses for LoRa:

• Smart metering for water, gas, and electric meters.
• Smart parking to indicate if parking spots are empty or occupied.
• Smart city applications like reading sensors for air quality, weather, gunshot detectors, or full trash cans.
• Disaster warning such as flood water level sensors or air quality smoke sensors that indicate a fire.
• Industrial monitoring for a wide variety of sensors to monitor things like machine vibrations, structural cracks, or changes in temperature
• Tracking large assets like forklifts
• The open-source app Mashtastic is being used to text locally without using the telco grid, which is particularly useful for hikers and others traveling where there is no cell service.
• Panic buttons for health or safety alerts.

LoRa is a relatively new technology. The idea was developed in France by Nicolas Sornin and Olivier Seller, who were looking for a cheap way to read utility meters. They worked with partners and launched the French company Cycleo in 2010, aimed at reading wireless utility meters. The company was purchased by the semiconductor company Semtech in 2012, which provided the capital to scale the technology globally. In 2015, Semtech and other interested users of the technology formed the LoRa Alliance to create and maintain open standards, to promote interoperability, and to promote the technology worldwide.  The technology took off in 2017 as carriers began shutting down legacy 2G networks.

Even though this is a low-power technology, the typical LoRa transmission is reliable for nine or ten miles. Engineers have been able to transmit a signal as far as 132 miles terrestrially using only 25 mW of power. The record for satellite-to-earth transmission is 517 miles.

LoRa uses chirp spread spectrum (CSS). This is a radio modulation technique that has been used for many years in maritime sonar, aviation, and satellite communications. CSS uses a technique to sweep upward and downward within a set frequency range over time. Each chirp can only transmit a tiny amount of data, and the technology limits the amount of data that can be sent over a given time. This makes this a great technology for transmitting simple things like the usage readings from an electric meter, or whether there is a car in a parking space.

The LoRa Alliance now has more than 340 member organizations, with 45 joining so in 2026. The Alliance has certified around 700 devices. There are some interesting large users of the technology:

• ZENNER Connect operates more than 11.6 million sensors and over 174,000 gateways across 15 countries.
• Netmore reports 11.2 million active devices on its network.
• The Things Industries reports 6 million devices.
• Veolia currently has more than 4 million active smart meters in France.
• CENTEGIX reports more than 800,000 people wearing its CrisisAlert wearable panic button badge daily.