Mobile operators have pinned many hopes on a couple of assumptions about new generation M2M services ‘ that many of them would run in licensed spectrum, positioning cellular networks as the basis of the internet of things; and that the established MNOs would control those networks. Of course, there are various flaws in this thinking, most of them connected to the importance of unlicensed spectrum and private M2M networks in key verticals. But there is also a rising breed of dedicated M2M operators which build networks in licensed spectrum, but not the frequencies owned by the cellcos. Sigfox in France is taking this approach using 900MHz UltraNarrowBand, a technology also adopted by UK start-up Senaptic to support specialized M2M service…