e& UAE has become the first telecom operator globally to announce the successful testing of eRedCap on its live network. The milestone demonstrates a practical path for enterprises and public-sector organisations to move widely deployed IoT applications from legacy LTE technologies to a simpler, more energy-efficient 5G-native IoT platform.

eRedCap is designed for connected devices that do not require the full performance capabilities of 5G. It can support smart utility meters, industrial sensors and controllers, asset and fleet tracking, payment terminals, building-management systems, security devices and selected wearables.

The technology provides the coverage, battery life and cost profile required for large-scale deployments. At the same time, it offers a future-ready route into the 5G-Advanced ecosystem.

Abdulrahman Al Humaidan, Senior Vice President, Access Network Development, e& UAE, said the value of eRedCap is its ability to bring practical IoT applications into the 5G era with the right cost, power profile and coverage. He added that testing the capability on a live commercial network gives utilities, manufacturers, logistics providers, smart-city operators and other sectors a path to scale connected devices and prepare for the industry’s transition beyond LTE.

For the industry, eRedCap can reduce network and device fragmentation. It can also simplify deployment, lower complexity and improve scalability across IoT ecosystems. Enterprises can progressively consolidate more IoT use cases on 5G Standalone, instead of maintaining separate technology paths for high-performance 5G and LTE-based IoT.

This approach can simplify device lifecycle management, strengthen security and service assurance, and support the long-term refarming of LTE spectrum. It also means applications would not need to use full-capability 5G hardware.

Furthermore, eRedCap builds on RedCap’s power-saving features. This enables massive IoT connectivity and extended battery life for IoT devices. Due to its low peak data rates and narrower 5MHz channel, device battery life can improve from 1 to 3 years with RedCap to 5 to 10 years. This is comparable to Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) technologies.

eRedCap also matches LTE Cat-1/Cat-1bis in cost, coverage and battery life. As a 5G Standalone (5G-SA)-native replacement for legacy IoT devices, it can support the industry’s transition towards more energy-efficient networks as LTE sunsets in the future.

In its live commercial test, e& UAE demonstrated eRedCap throughput speeds of up to 10Mbps on low-capability devices while using a 5MHz narrow bandwidth of an NR-FDD spectrum. A Data Transmission Unit (DTU) was integrated into the live commercial network to verify the eRedCap services.

The milestone reinforces e& UAE’s position in translating 5G-Advanced standards into commercially relevant capabilities for the UAE’s digital economy, with eRedCap providing a practical pathway for large-scale IoT deployments.

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