Access this insight with a Premium plan. Contact our sales team to get started.
Report details
Connectivity in IoT: swimming against the current
IoT is expanding rapidly. We project a fourfold increase from 6.3 billion connections in 2016 to over 25 billion in 2025. LPWA is emerging as one of the drivers behind this connections growth. Operator momentum is building around the rollout of LPWA technologies, particularly LTE-M and NB-IoT. As of the end of May 2018, 52 commercial networks were launched globally. Technically, LPWA is a genuinely good piece of innovation: low power consumption improves data economics without compromising spatial coverage. The problem for operators is that because LPWA transmits low data volumes at low speeds, it is priced as a utility – with little leverage. Given the promise of IoT representing the ‘next wave of connectivity’, it is therefore an unfortunate irony that connectivity itself will account for a very low share of value: only 5% by 2025.
Report details
Connectivity in IoT: swimming against the current
Related research
IoT in a post-quantum world: coming sooner than you think
The benefits of quantum computing come from the order-of-magnitude increase in computational power compared to conventional computers. This enables a range of use cases from predictive analytics to pharmaceutical simulations. However, there are also risks, primarily related to security vulnerabilities. Overall, we estimate around 8% of IoT devices currently in active use are quantum safe. Conversely, over 90% (i.e. nearly all) of IoT devices are exposed. The exposure risk for telcos comes at multiple levels, including networks, billing systems, consumer devices and IoT. The focus in this report is on the IoT dimension because it represents the largest universe of devices, is highly disparate and is particularly open to security risks due to the ageing nature of many assets deployed today.
Accelerating digital industries in the GCC and wider MENA region: trends shaping the B2B opportunity
GSMA Intelligence surveyed more than 850 enterprises across 10 vertical sectors in eight MENA countries to gain insight into their digital transformation. This report highlights the key findings. As digital industries continue to evolve, the report identifies three B2B opportunities for operators.
IoT and enterprise markets: five trends to watch in 2026
How will the industry evolve in 2026? This series of reports highlights the key trends to watch and the implications for ecosystem players. This report examines the IoT and enterprise markets.
Authors
How to access this report
Annual subscription: Subscribe to our research modules for comprehensive access to more than 200 reports per year.
Enquire about subscriptionContact our research team
Get in touch with us to find out more about our research topics and analysis.
Contact our research teamMedia
To cite our research, please see our citation policy in our Terms of Use, or contact our Media team for more information.
Learn moreRelated research
IoT in a post-quantum world: coming sooner than you think
The benefits of quantum computing come from the order-of-magnitude increase in computational power compared to conventional computers. This enables a range of use cases from predictive analytics to pharmaceutical simulations. However, there are also risks, primarily related to security vulnerabilities. Overall, we estimate around 8% of IoT devices currently in active use are quantum safe. Conversely, over 90% (i.e. nearly all) of IoT devices are exposed. The exposure risk for telcos comes at multiple levels, including networks, billing systems, consumer devices and IoT. The focus in this report is on the IoT dimension because it represents the largest universe of devices, is highly disparate and is particularly open to security risks due to the ageing nature of many assets deployed today.
Accelerating digital industries in the GCC and wider MENA region: trends shaping the B2B opportunity
GSMA Intelligence surveyed more than 850 enterprises across 10 vertical sectors in eight MENA countries to gain insight into their digital transformation. This report highlights the key findings. As digital industries continue to evolve, the report identifies three B2B opportunities for operators.
IoT and enterprise markets: five trends to watch in 2026
How will the industry evolve in 2026? This series of reports highlights the key trends to watch and the implications for ecosystem players. This report examines the IoT and enterprise markets.
- 200 reports a year
- 50 million data points
- Over 350 metrics