LTE-M (LTE for Machines (Cat-M1))

Also known as: Cat-M1, LTE Cat-M, LTE for Machines

LTE-M is a 3GPP LPWA variant of LTE (UE category M1 in Release 13, M2 in Release 14) that supports up to ~1 Mbit/s, VoLTE, mobility, and power-saving features (PSM, eDRX) suitable for battery-powered IoT devices with more capability than NB-IoT. It reuses LTE/EPC and 5GC security and NAS, and is widely deployed for asset tracking, wearables and connected metering.

Categories: Protocols and StandardsIoT

LTE-M in context

Telecom security is written into standards from 3GPP, GSMA, ETSI, IETF and ITU-T. Understanding which body owns which specification, and how they interlock, is essential for both design and audit work.

Cellular IoT: NB-IoT, LTE-M and 5G mMTC: brings billions of devices with weak identities and long field lifetimes into operator networks, extending signaling attack surface at scale.

To place LTE-M in the wider telecom-security picture, review mMTC, NB-IoT, CSFB, 5G, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) and Zigbee: each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

Related topic hubs

More from the TelcoSec Glossary

Browse the full TelcoSec Glossary, the Ultimate Guide to Mobile Network Security, or the P1 Arsenal of telecom-security tools.