Panasonic's Nessum Becomes IEEE 1901-2026, Expanding Multi-Media IoT Connectivity

Consolidated standard supports six physical media types

The IEEE Standards Association approved Panasonic Holdings' Nessum communications technology as IEEE 1901-2026 on October 26, merging the 2020 base specification, 2021 security amendments, and 2024 media extensions into a single standard. The specification supports power lines, control lines, coaxial cable, twisted-pair cable, wireless links, and underwater communications—giving industrial and building-network buyers a formal multi-media connectivity option backed by an international standards body.

The consolidated standard matters because it converts what was previously a Panasonic-specific technology into a specification that other vendors can implement and certify against. For buyers managing factories, utilities, buildings, or energy infrastructure, that shift reduces vendor lock-in risk and makes Nessum a credible alternative to Ethernet/IP, wireless mesh, Wi-Fi, Thread, LoRaWAN, and competing power-line technologies.

The key differentiator is reuse of existing conductors. Retrofitting a factory or commercial building with Ethernet/IP typically requires new cabling or expensive wireless-mesh infrastructure. Nessum's ability to carry data over power lines, legacy control wiring, or existing coax reduces installation labor and materials cost—if the technology delivers acceptable throughput, latency, and reliability for the application.

Procurement teams still need vendor and performance data

The IEEE approval provides no pricing, deployment count, throughput benchmark, or quantified cost reduction. Buyers evaluating Nessum against alternatives should verify multi-vendor product availability, certification coverage, data rates, latency under load, and security implementation before assuming interoperability or commercial viability.

The 2021 amendment strengthened authentication. The 2024 amendment expanded supported media. But the announcement does not specify which encryption algorithms are mandatory, how device certificates are managed, or whether Over-the-Air updates are supported. Industrial buyers subject to IEC 62443, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, or sector-specific requirements should request test reports and configuration guides that map IEEE 1901-2026 controls to their compliance obligations.

Competitive positioning depends on the deployment context. For greenfield sites, dedicated Ethernet or wireless mesh may offer higher throughput and simpler tooling. For brownfield retrofits where running new cable is cost-prohibitive, Nessum becomes worth evaluating—especially in utilities, process plants, and older commercial buildings with accessible power-line or coax infrastructure.

CIP Security reaches IEC 62443 Level 3

ODVA's CIP Security specification for EtherNet/IP received IEC 62443-4-2 Security Level Capability 3 certification from TÜV Rheinland in early 2026. ODVA released the associated CIP Identification and CIP Security schemas in March. The certification gives industrial buyers a concrete basis for evaluating EtherNet/IP security in regulated or high-consequence environments, reducing qualification friction for plant-network projects that require IEC 62443 alignment.

The certification applies to the specification, not to every EtherNet/IP device. Buyers still need device-level certificates, secure configuration, vendor patching commitments, and network-segmentation evidence to claim Level 3 compliance in a deployed system. The certification does, however, validate that the underlying protocol supports the cryptographic, access-control, and integrity mechanisms required at Level 3—making it easier to build a compliant architecture than with protocols that lack formal certification.

CIP Security competes with PROFINET security extensions, Modbus/TCP security deployments, and OPC UA security. For buyers already committed to EtherNet/IP, the TÜV Rheinland certification strengthens the security argument relative to legacy fieldbus protocols. For buyers choosing a new industrial network, it narrows the gap between EtherNet/IP and PROFINET or OPC UA on the security dimension.

Zigbee 4.0 and Z-Wave Long Range signal continued low-power competition

The Connectivity Standards Alliance publicized Zigbee 4.0 and Suzi as next-generation secure, interoperable IoT technologies, with a feature deep dive on October 27–28. The development matters most to buyers operating large sensor and lighting fleets where installed-base compatibility, low power consumption, and mature mesh tooling outweigh consumer-brand momentum. The available announcement provides no device counts, licensing prices, power-consumption benchmarks, or migration requirements, so treat it as a standards road-map signal rather than a reason to change platform strategy immediately.

The Z-Wave Alliance promoted Z-Wave Long Range for commercial and industrial IoT, highlighting an Alliance-sponsored field study that compared commercially available Z-Wave Long Range, LoRa, and Wi-Fi HaLow products under identical suburban and light-urban conditions. The study included obstacles such as wood-frame homes, trees, brick, and concrete buildings. Z-Wave Long Range could be relevant for commercial buildings, campuses, metering, and sensor networks where minimizing gateways or battery maintenance matters.

The reported coverage does not disclose the study's numerical range results, packet-delivery rates, device prices, or total-cost comparisons. Buyers should request the underlying test data before using the field study in an architecture or sourcing decision.

What to watch

Track multi-vendor product announcements for IEEE 1901-2026. If Panasonic remains the only certified supplier, the standard offers little procurement advantage over a single-vendor technology. Track published throughput and latency benchmarks for power-line, coax, and twisted-pair media—if performance falls below Fast Ethernet or Wi-Fi 6, the cost savings from reusing existing wire may not offset the performance penalty.

For EtherNet/IP buyers, request device-level IEC 62443-4-2 certificates and secure-configuration guides from vendors. The CIP Security certification validates the protocol, but achieving Level 3 in production requires every device, switch, and management tool to meet the standard.

For Zigbee and Z-Wave Long Range, wait for independent performance and cost data. Alliance-sponsored field studies are useful directional signals, but procurement decisions require quantified comparisons under conditions that match your deployment environment.