(Telecompaper) Nokia, Ericsson and Intel have announced their support for Narrow-Band Long-Term Evolution (NB-LTE) technology as the ideal wireless connectivity system for the Internet of Things (IoT) market segment. The companies explained that NB-LTE is a variant of 4G LTE technology, and is well-suited for the IoT market segment because of its low implementation cost, ease of use and power efficiency. Nokia plans to work closely with Ericsson and Intel to develop and bring to market the products needed for the commercialization of NB-LTE timed with market demand. Intel intends to support commercial roll-out of the technology with a roadmap for NB-LTE chipsets and product upgrades beginning in 2016 that will enable slim form factors. Nokia and Ericsson will provide the required network upgrades to support an extension of existing LTE networks with NB-LTE optimized for low power Machine-to-Machine communication.