Comcast joins LoRa Alliance™ as sponsor member; hosts next all-members meeting and showcases citywide LoRaWAN™ network deployment

Meeting to Feature Smart City Summit, Open House and Hackathon

PHILADELPHIA - April 20, 2017 - The LoRa Alliance™, the global association of over 400 companies backing the LoRaWAN™ standard for low-power wide-area IoT (Internet of Things) networks (LPWANs), today announced that Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) has formally joined the Alliance as a Sponsor member, and will join the Board of Directors. Additionally, Comcast will host the Alliance's 8th All-Members Meeting, Open House and Marketplace Exhibition from June 12-14, 2017, at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

"Comcast's successful citywide deployment in Philadelphia exemplifies the power of standardizing LPWANs to fully realize the worldwide potential of IoT technology," said Geoff Mulligan, chairman of the LoRa Alliance. "Comcast's decision to become a Sponsor member is a strong endorsement of LoRaWAN technology. Though it only formalized its membership last month, Comcast is already stepping up to help drive the Alliance because it believes in the value of collaborating to further the LoRaWAN protocol's global success."

The type of global collaboration offered by the LoRa Alliance was one of the key reasons Comcast joined. The company announced its selection of LoRaWAN technology for its machineQ™ enterprise, low-power IoT network in October 2016. Taking a leadership role in the Alliance will allow the company to collaborate more effectively with other members, and provides Comcast with greater access to a broad range of ecosystem providers.

"As we continue to deploy the LoRaWAN protocol in the United States, the core technology is exceeding our expectations in terms of network propagation and coverage. We are seeing increasing demand and interest from a diverse client set," said Alex Khorram, general manager, machineQ. "It's exciting to commence our formal membership with the Alliance by bringing its respected global membership to the city of Philadelphia. We believe there is significant value in driving international collaboration and growth opportunities for LoRaWAN technology."

The first two days of the 8th Annual All-Members Meeting are open to current members and will focus on ongoing collaboration to advance the LoRaWAN protocol's capabilities and push the boundaries of IoT innovation, including committee, working group and board meetings, as well as "marketplace" demonstrations by member companies.

On the third day, the event will open its doors to the community, prospective members, invited guests and journalists for an Open House and Smart City Summit. The Summit will begin with a keynote by Philadelphia municipal leaders, followed by presentations and panels from a wide range of experts involved in smart city trends, technology developments and deployments around the world.

Finally, Comcast is actively organizing a smart-city themed hackathon designed to bring local startups, independent developers and universities together to explore the capabilities of LoRaWAN technology and its vast potential for enabling Smart City initiatives. The winning application concepts derived from the hackathon will be presented at the close of the Smart City Summit.