High above the rooftops of Bonn, a LoRa community gateway was put into operation on the roof of the Stadthaus on July 16, 2019. In collaboration with the initiatives Code für Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, Freie Netzwerker e.V., The Things Network Bonn and the City of Bonn, the gateway hardware was installed at a height of around 80 meters. The location offers ideal conditions for greater LoRa coverage in Bonn and the region with a wide range of testing and experimentation opportunities.

LoRaWAN (LongRange Wide Area Network) makes it possible to transmit data from sensors over long distances. There are countless possible uses for the Internet of Things (IoT), from environmental and mobility data to fill level measurements. The advantage of using LoRa is that low installation and operating costs are possible for individual sensors, as power or internet cabling is no longer required thanks to a LoRaWAN connection. With the help of radio technology and a solar or battery supply, the sensors can be used autonomously over a long period of two to three years.

The city of Bonn supports the LoRa community activities by providing the location and gateway hardware. This collaboration enables the implementation of a smart city experimentation platform in which anyone can use the LoRa infrastructure freely and openly for private, educational or scientific purposes.