The quiet power behind smart tech

WiFi, Bluetooth, and mobile networks are familiar names in wireless communication - but there’s a fourth contender transforming everything from city water systems to African wildlife conservation.

LPWAN - or Low Power Wide Area Network technology - is used when you need to send small amounts of data over long distances, using very little power.

We head to rural Portugal where it's used for solar and water systems, and from conservation parks in Africa to find out how this low-cost network could become the most influential wireless tech of them all.

Produced and presented by Alastair Leithead

(Image: An adult female Iberian Lynx named Lava with GPS tracking collar on January 12, 2023 in Toledo, Spain. Credit: Getty Images)