LoRa® devices and LoRaWAN® standard integrated into “Order Pens” enable on-demand postal services to thousands of Swiss citizens
Semtech Corporation, a leading supplier of high performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms, announced its collaboration with the Swiss Post, the national postal service of Switzerland, resulting in the successful deployment of Swiss Post “Order Pens” leveraging Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® standard, to provide universal postal service to Swiss citizens and businesses. Through integrating LoRa, the Swiss Post optimized its postal service ordering process throughout the country to better serve its community.
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“This collaboration with the Swiss Post to provide universal postal service to all Swiss citizens and businesses is a reflection of the unmatched value that LoRa devices can provide to make the world a smarter planet”
“As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to revolutionize the day-to-day lives of consumers globally, the Order Pen showcases the full potential of this IoT technology, the LoRa devices and the LoRaWAN standard, can have a huge impact in improving services in the community,” said Thomas Koch, head of IoT, Swiss Post. “The Order Pens were easy to deploy and effectively shaped the lives of Swiss citizens and businesses for the better.”
As the competitive landscape for delivery companies has grown, customer expectations for services have evolved for faster delivery times, lower prices and exceptional service quality. In response, the Swiss Post with the support of its Swiss-based technology partner Miromico, implemented a four-year “simple yet systematic” business strategy to address this customer centric on-demand paradigm and released Order Pens to remote villages in Switzerland with no access to a post office. Additionally, to provide a connection to each reader, the Swiss Post opted to collaborate with Swisscom and Actility to use Switzerland’s only nationwide LoRaWAN network, called the Low Power Network (LPN), covering 97% of the Swiss population.
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In a span of four years, the deployment of the Order Pens utilizing LoRa devices and LoRaWAN standard ultimately benefited Swiss citizens and businesses. Direct results of the solution included:
- On-demand ordering of postal services such as pickup of a parcel or registered letter
- Easier accessibility for postal services for those without a smartphone or computer due to the easy-to-use Order Pen
- Up to 10 years of battery power operation
- No need for a SIM card, as the readers operate on Swisscom’s low power network in Switzerland utilizing the LoRaWAN standard
- User-friendly web application providing instant listings of each order and the ability to manage devices used, departments, access rights, supplier relationships, order quantities, and delivery times
Analyst firm ABI Research estimates that total non-cellular low power wide area (LPWA) network connections in 2026 are expected to reach 1.3 billion with LoRa forecasted to comprise more than half of all non-cellular LPWA connections. LoRaWAN has emerged as the leading standard for the broadest range of outdoor and indoor connected applications. Devices integrated with LoRa and the LoRaWAN standard are differentiated by an open ecosystem, strong security specifications, bi-directional communication, optimization for mobility, and scalability for capacity.
“This collaboration with the Swiss Post to provide universal postal service to all Swiss citizens and businesses is a reflection of the unmatched value that LoRa devices can provide to make the world a smarter planet,” said Roelof Koopmans, senior director of strategic alliances solution partners at Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group. “The strong results from the Swiss Post Order Pens make Semtech’s LoRa devices the de facto wireless platform of IoT.”
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