How SPEL Placed Its First Fleximodo Order From Kolín — A Czech Republic Deployment Combining LoRaWAN Sensor Standard With NB-IoT Roaming Connectivity Under the NO OPEX Model

Deployment Snapshot

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The Client

SPEL, a.s. is a Czech engineering and systems company based in Kolín — a historic Bohemian town on the Elbe river approximately 60 km east of Prague, known for its industrial heritage including the Kolín sugar refinery (once the largest in Europe) and more recently as a centre for automotive manufacturing (the Toyota-Peugeot-Citroën plant at nearby Ovčáry). The company operates from Třídvorská 1402 and specialises in engineering solutions that span electrical systems, automation, and increasingly IoT infrastructure.

This October 2025 order is SPEL's first Fleximodo order, making SPEL the second Czech Republic customer in the Fleximodo dataset after T-Mobile Czech Republic (which entered in January 2025 with a demo kit and progressed to production orders by March). While T-Mobile CZ represents the telco channel in the Czech market, SPEL represents the traditional engineering and systems integration channel — a different commercial pathway that brings smart parking sensor technology to Czech municipal and commercial customers through established engineering relationships.

The Challenge: Why Combine LoRaWAN Sensors With NB-IoT Connectivity?

SPEL's first-order specification is technically unusual. The line items include a LoRaWAN Sensor Standard (in-ground) paired with NB-IoT roaming connectivity for 10 years. At first glance this combination appears contradictory: why would a LoRaWAN parking sensor need NB-IoT connectivity?

The answer lies in the architecture of LoRaWAN deployments that use NB-IoT gateway backhaul. In a standard LoRaWAN deployment, sensors communicate via LoRaWAN protocol to a nearby gateway, and the gateway communicates upstream to the network server via an internet connection (typically Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or cellular). In locations where the LoRaWAN gateway does not have access to a wired internet connection, the gateway uses a cellular backhaul — an NB-IoT or LTE SIM in the gateway that provides the upstream connectivity to the network server.

SPEL's order makes architectural sense when read this way: the LoRaWAN sensors talk to the gateway via LoRaWAN protocol, and the gateway uses the 10-year NB-IoT roaming SIM for upstream backhaul to the Fleximodo platform. The customer gets the advantages of both protocols: LoRaWAN's low per-sensor cost and concentrated-coverage efficiency for the sensor-to-gateway link, and NB-IoT's wide-area cellular coverage for the gateway-to-cloud backhaul. The 10-year NB-IoT SIM in the gateway ensures the backhaul connection is maintained for a full decade without SIM management.

This dual-protocol architecture is particularly suited to Czech municipal deployments where the parking location may not have wired internet access (small towns, rural car parks, temporary parking areas) but where LoRaWAN sensor-to-gateway links work well within the parking site's geographic footprint.

The Solution: LoRaWAN In-Ground Sensor Standard With NB-IoT Gateway Backhaul, NO OPEX

The deployment included:

• IoT Parking Sensor Standard (LoRaWAN, in-ground) — 1-year warranty, NO OPEX pricing model
• Connectivity (NB-IoT roaming) for 10 years — gateway backhaul SIM

The NO OPEX pricing model means SPEL is handling backend integration independently — the company has its own IoT platform or is building one, and does not need Fleximodo's managed backend services. This is consistent with an engineering company that designs and operates its own systems: SPEL wants the in-ground parking sensor hardware and the connectivity, and will handle the data processing and application layer itself.

The 10-year NB-IoT roaming connectivity for the gateway backhaul provides a decade of uninterrupted cellular upstream connectivity without recurring SIM management. Roaming connectivity (rather than a domestic Czech operator SIM) provides flexibility if the gateway is ever relocated or if the customer deploys in locations where domestic operator coverage is variable.

SPEL and the Czech Market Beyond T-Mobile

SPEL's entry as the second Czech Fleximodo customer broadens the Czech market beyond the single T-Mobile CZ relationship. The two Czech customers represent complementary channels:

T-Mobile Czech Republic — the telco channel, where the mobile operator itself evaluates and potentially resells smart parking as an IoT vertical service. T-Mobile CZ's demo-to-production conversion cycle (56 days from first demo to first production order) demonstrated the speed at which a telco can qualify new IoT hardware.

SPEL — the engineering integration channel, where a traditional Czech engineering company integrates smart parking sensors into broader systems projects for municipal or commercial clients. SPEL's dual-protocol architecture (LoRaWAN sensors with NB-IoT backhaul) demonstrates the kind of creative system design that engineering companies apply when adapting standardised sensor products to non-standard deployment requirements.

Together, the two channels give Fleximodo access to the Czech market through both the telco route (high volume, standardised offerings) and the engineering route (customised deployments, system integration). This channel diversity reduces market-specific risk and opens multiple parallel pathways for Czech deployment growth.

Fleximodo LoRaWAN Sensor Standard With NB-IoT Gateway Backhaul, NO OPEX: Technical Profile

Specification	Detail
Sensor model	IoT Parking Sensor Standard (LoRaWAN, in-ground)
Sensor protocol	LoRaWAN (sensor-to-gateway)
Gateway backhaul	NB-IoT roaming, 10-year bundled SIM
Detection accuracy	99.96%
Dimensions	115 mm diameter, height 64 mm
Weight	390 g
Battery lifetime	6 years operational
Ingress protection	IP68
Impact resistance	IK10
Pricing model	NO OPEX — hardware and connectivity only, no managed backend
Warranty	1 year standard

Behind that 99.96% accuracy figure sits Fleximodo's magnetometer parking sensor design combined with radar for dual detection technology, plus automatic temperature compensation in the sensor firmware. This keeps magnetic-field readings stable as temperatures swing between Czech winters and summers, so seasonal heat or cold doesn't introduce the false occupancy readings that plague simpler single-technology sensors — an important reliability detail for an engineering integrator like SPEL building a solution its own clients will depend on.

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Fleximodo smart parking technology is deployed in 30+ countries. View all products | See T-Mobile Czech Republic's demo-to-production conversion | See UPARK.CH's multi-protocol Swiss demo kit

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why combine LoRaWAN sensors with NB-IoT connectivity? LoRaWAN sensors communicate via LoRaWAN to a nearby gateway; the gateway then needs upstream connectivity to the cloud platform. In locations without wired internet, the gateway uses an NB-IoT SIM for cellular backhaul. This dual-protocol architecture combines LoRaWAN's low per-sensor cost with NB-IoT's wide-area cellular coverage for the gateway-to-cloud link.

What is the NO OPEX pricing model? NO OPEX delivers sensor hardware and connectivity without managed backend services — the customer handles data processing, monitoring, and application development independently. Suitable for engineering companies with their own IoT platforms that need only the raw hardware and connectivity.

How does SPEL's Czech entry differ from T-Mobile CZ? T-Mobile CZ represents the telco channel (standardised IoT vertical services, high volume). SPEL represents the engineering integration channel (customised system design, creative dual-protocol architectures). Together they give Fleximodo two complementary Czech market access routes.

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