The unique selling proposition of the LoraWAN technology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoRaWAN) is that you can put together a sensor + arduino + a LoRaWAN sender that transmits data 10km+ without the need to change the batterey of the sensors for five years.

Here is a real-life usecase: http://blog.telenor.io/iot/2015/08/04/smart-meetingroom.html