The ground plane also affects how long an antenna "acts," so a tiny chip antenna on a PCB can still be tuned for 868 MHz because the board helps shape the wave
Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) communication for IoT and M2M (machine-to-machine) communication. You could think of it as LTE configured for machines, which it is.
2G networks have extensive global reach, especially in remote and rural areas - ideal for IoT devices that need to operate across diverse geographical regions.