Narrowband IoT (also known as NB-IoT or LTE-M2) is a proposed LPWAN technology

which wont operate in the LTE construct. Instead, its being designed to exist in
one of three ways:

Independently
In unused 200-KhZ bands that have previously been used for GSM (Global System for
Mobile Communications)
On LTE base stations allocating a resource block to NB-IoT operations or in their
guard bands.
Telecommunication giants such as Huawei, Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Vodafone are
actively involved in putting this standard together. In fact, Vodafone is set to
roll out the first live, commercial NB-IoT launch markets in early 2017 in Germany,
Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain.

Huawei, Ericsson, and Qualcomm are interested in NB-IoT because it has a number of
benefits.

Business Benefits

1. Power Efficiency

Efficiently powering IoT devices is critical. Think about it: who wants to be out
there changing the batteries on 20 billion devices every six months? While nearly
all IoT technologies are developed to save power when they arent operating, they
do draw energy when the modem is running and handling signal processing.

2. Cost Savings

Technologies with simpler waveform like NB-IoT will consume less power. A 200
kHz NB-IoT frontend and digitizer offers reduced complexity of analog-to-digital
(A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion, buffering, and channel estimation.
Power savings = cost savings. Plus, NB-IoT chips will be simpler to create and thus
come cheaper.

3. Reliability

Rolling out NB-IoT on a licensed spectrum means improved reliability for users as
well as the guaranteed resource allocation needed for managed Quality of Service
(QoS).

4. Wider Deployment

Compared to LTE-M1, NB-IoT has lower bitrates and better link budgets.
Additionally, per Huaweis Emmanuel Coehlo Alves in an IoT Hub article, NB-IoT
doesnt need gateways to provide connectivity.