According to a new assessment by Verizon and the FAA, mobile connectivity is a legitimate and preferable method of controlling drones and UAVs. A 2019 paper by Ericsson examines the subject and discusses the specifications needed to support drone operations.
Because it doesn’t call for a completely new infrastructure, the usage of mobile networks for drone C2 is advantageous for the industry.
Commercial drone operators that use mobile connectivity for command and control must make sure they have the necessary equipment, including the correct SIM card, to ensure connectivity and make it function.
Consumer-grade SIM cards are more affordable, offer faster connections, and have reduced latency. However, consumer SIM cards have data limits and may be dangerous for commercial drone operations.
IoT SIM cards on the other hand are made for business and industry. These SIM cards are more durable, secure, and flexible, and it offers extra capabilities designed especially for IoT devices.
Consumer SIM cards are typically activated and controlled on an individual basis, however IoT SIMs can be remotely operated and activated in large quantities.
IoT SIM cards are designed to endure in harsher “industrial” environments than typical SIMs would be expected to, such as extremely high and low temperatures, powerful winds, rain and snow, and more.
Lots of data.
The majority of consumer data plans come with a limit on how much data you can use: once that limit is reached the data speeds are severely slowed down, known as “throttling”.
Most consumers don’t have to worry about throttling but once a drone reaches the data limit and encounters throttling, this can seriously effect drone connectivity and endanger the drone.
While the temptation to use a consumer SIM card is understandable due to the low latency and high connection speeds available to the consumer market, the downsides and potential ramifications of using a consumer SIM make an IoT SIM card a safer choice for scalable – and reliable – commercial drone operations.
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