What happens when IoT finally gets the connectivity infrastructure it has been waiting for?
In this episode of the Mr. Beacon Podcast, Steve talks with Alper Yegin, CEO of the LoRa Alliance, about LoRaWAN and why he believes it has become a fourth pillar of wireless connectivity alongside Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular.
Alper explains what makes LoRaWAN different: long range, deep indoor coverage, extremely low power consumption, unlicensed spectrum, and infrastructure that can be deployed through private, public, community, and satellite networks. Devices can operate for more than ten years on a single battery, opening the door to applications where conventional connectivity simply does not work.
The conversation explores where LoRaWAN fits and where it does not. It is not designed for streaming video or other high-bandwidth, real-time applications. Instead, it targets the enormous world of massive IoT, where sensors may only need to send small amounts of data regularly. That makes it particularly powerful for smart buildings, metering, industrial monitoring, agriculture, asset tracking, smart cities, and more.
Alper also explains why he believes LoRaWAN's open-standard approach has been central to its success, and how an ecosystem of hundreds of companies has enabled the technology to evolve from a single protocol into a broader end-to-end architecture.
The conversation then turns to the future: satellite connectivity, geolocation, digital product passports, plug-and-play infrastructure, and the emerging concept of physical AI. Alper describes IoT as the bridge between AI and the physical world, the "digital nervous system" connecting AI's intelligence to physical assets.
Finally, Alper shares the career path that took him from TCP/IP development at Sun Microsystems and decades of standards work to leading the LoRa Alliance, along with three songs that have shaped his journey.
A wide-ranging conversation about connectivity, standards, IoT, AI, and the infrastructure being built for the physical world.
Alper’s Top 3 Songs:
- “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzOdm9w3J94
- “Rocket Man” by Elton John: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOWCoRr-wqc
- “Storm” by Vanessa Mae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOSIAKbXzE8
Mister Beacon is hosted by Steve Statler, CEO of ambientChat.ai — Using AI to connect people with places and products with an app that puts you in control of YOUR data.
Our sponsor is Identiv https://www.identiv.com, whose IoT solutions create digital identities for physical objects, enhancing global connectivity for businesses, people, and the planet. We are also sponsored by Blecon http://www.blecon.net. Blecon who delivers asset tracking and condition monitoring using the devices your team already carries.