Roles and Areas of Responsibility in LoRaWAN Deployment: from Integrator to Network Owner

From goals to architecture: who is responsible at the outset

Who manages LoRaWAN networksprivate LoRaWAN or shared networks approach, choosing an ownership/financing scheme among possible LoRaWAN ownership models.

These decisions affect the design and LoRaWAN governance, including where to host the Network Server (cloud or on-prem), which security policy to select, and how to organize redundancy.

Architecture and radio planning are typically led by the integrator together with the prospective network owner. They perform RF surveys, model coverage and capacity, select gateway locations and backhaul (fiber, LTE), and plan redundancy. 

At the field layer, they define the device list, message profiles, transmission frequency, and requirements for battery autonomy and calibration — core LoRaWAN deployment tasks within broader IoT network deployment. They also plan future integrations such as billing, ERP/SCADA, municipal GIS, and analytical data marts to support smart city networks.

Jooby products cover three key layers at once. At the edge — smart Jooby radio modules for water, gas, and heat meters (including retrofits for mechanical meters). On the transport layer — Jooby gateways for collecting traffic in the LoRaWAN network, enabling robust LoRaWAN integration with existing connectivity providers. And lastly, on the application layer with the Jooby RDC Dashboard: a platform with dashboards, alerts, and APIs for exchange with external systems.

This combination simplifies RACI and reduces the number of “seams” between different vendors in IoT infrastructure management.

Design and pilot: sharing risks and fixing metrics

Once goals and budget are approved, the team moves into design and pilot. The integrator maintains the radio plan, equipment specification, installation schematics, and dimming/reading scenarios. The network owner approves cybersecurity requirements and operator responsibilities relating to OTAA joining, key storage, rotation, inter-segment encryption, and access segmentation. 

The network operator (a separate company or a municipal unit) prepares LNS monitoring, ADR policy, duty-cycle rules, and channel load control, formalizing the duties of the LoRaWAN network operator. The device supplier (in our example — Jooby) provides certifications, firmware, payload profiles, and acceptance procedures.

The pilot must cover different conditions, ranging from basements and manholes to dense urban blocks, arterials, and suburbs. At this stage, real radio-channel profiles are revealed, transmission schedules are refined, alerts are configured in the Jooby RDC Dashboard, and the integration with billing/GIS is verified.

The pilot result is a report comparing KPIs to the original business case, a list of improvements, and a scaling plan for smart city networks via a unified yet scalable IoT approach.

Scaling: who is responsible for operations and data quality

When deploying hundreds and thousands of nodes, it is critical to define an end-to-end commissioning procedure: assigning DevEUI/JoinEUI, checking keys, installation, photo tie-in, test frame, and registration in the inventory base. The integrator trains contractors and operations, while the network owner accepts nodes into production. 

The network operator is also responsible for the NOC: monitors RSSI/SNR, PER, overloaded channels, “silent” nodes, and battery alerts. Application owners watch data quality for its completeness, timeliness, anomalies, and gaps. The answer to the perennial question “why is there no data?” must be process-documented: physical node, radio channel, LNS, application, integration layer — with each layer having its own owner to clearly establish responsibilities in IoT projects.

Jooby gateways and the RDC Dashboard accelerate the network routine: dashboards show the percentage of successful reads by sector, coverage depth maps, warnings about signal level degradation, battery issues, and any attempts to tamper with a meter. This enables the operating side to maintain the SLA without massively enlarging the team — a practical payoff of well-structured LoRaWAN governance.

Cybersecurity and regulation: responsibility boundaries without “gray zones”

In projects with resource metering and municipal assets, information security is non-negotiable. The network owner approves the policy detailing use of OTAA, storage of keys in HSM/a protected vault, rotation, TLS between gateway and LNS, RBAC in applications, and audits. The integrator implements these requirements in practice, including in installation instructions and firmware. The network operator ensures event logging and regular external vulnerability audits. 

The data owner (municipality/property manager) is responsible for legal aspects: retention periods, resident access to their own data, and responses to requests. In the field of metrology and commercial metering, sector norms apply, such as the boundary between “automated collection” and “metering device” must be recorded in operating documentation and contracts.

Operations and optimization: who adjusts what and when

In real life, the network “breathes”, with construction sites and new high-rises appearing, the electromagnetic environment changing, and an increase in the load. 

The network operator manages ADR and transmission of power, adds or relocates gateways, and tracks duty-cycles. The application-side operations adjust schedules, alert thresholds, retransmission policies, archiving, and retention. The integrator periodically checks the network’s health and repeats RF measurements on problem segments, firmware updates, and recommendations. 

Meanwhile, the device supplier keeps a support window and releases corrective builds. At Jooby, this cycle is supported by ready templates: standard transmission profiles, diagnostic frames, test acceptance, and update procedures, all of which significantly reduce MTTR — a sustainable pattern for smart city networks.

Who is responsible for what: a brief RACI summary

Municipality/data owner — business goals, KPIs, budget, data policy, legal basis, public reporting; final acceptance of works.

Network owner (may coincide with municipality or operator) — radio infrastructure, LNS, security of the channel, monitoring, SLA.

Network operator/NOC — availability, performance, incident management, SLA reports, plan for coverage development.

Integrator — design, pilot, commissioning, training, integrations with external systems, documentation, second-line support.

Device supplier (Jooby) — equipment (radio modules, gateways, software), profiles, firmware, warranties, implementation consulting.

Operating organization (utility/provider/PM) — node inventory, ticket handling, billing correctness, working with residents.

Acceptance and handover: where the project ends and life begins

Transparent acceptance saves months. In the specification phase, criteria should be fixed, detailing the share of successful reads over the reporting period, average SNR at control points, time from incident to alert, share of correctly created device cards, and integration tests with billing/GIS. And upon completion — a full as-built set: radio plan, schematics, list of nodes with coordinates and photos, accesses and keys, instructions and regulations. 

Handover is accompanied by training and a “hotline” for the first 30–60 days. In the Jooby stack, part of these artifacts are generated automatically from the RDC Dashboard: inventory statements, event logs, coverage maps, and KPI reports — making LoRaWAN ownership models easier to operate regardless of connectivity providers.

Why a unified stack matters

LoRaWAN is flexible, but multi-vendor diversity often creates “seam” risks. With a unified stack — radio modules, gateways, and platform from one manufacturer — there is a reduced likelihood of incompatibilities, as well as speeding up diagnostics. For municipal projects, this is not about “closedness” but about manageability, including standard profiles, typical deployment scenarios, and ready APIs. 

Jooby products fit this model well by retrofitting existing meters, bringing the transport layer up quickly, and delivering data to a convenient dashboard or to external systems — a pragmatic approach to IoT infrastructure management across smart city networks.

The success of LoRaWAN implementation is determined not only by hardware quality, but also by clarity of role allocation. When each participant understands their boundaries, the network scales without surprises, and benefits — from savings to environmental KPIs — become predictable and measurable. In this sense, LoRaWAN is not only a technology but also a model of shared responsibility. 

The earlier roles and duties are established as part of LoRaWAN deployment, the more confidently the city and service companies will move from pilot to industrial operation — a blueprint for successfully implementing operator responsibilities across the full deployment life cycle.