IoT: counting the cost of Covid-19

Operators' confidence in their IoT business prospects is rising, with the share of operators confident having doubled between 2023 and 2026. GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry.

This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on digital industries, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications. The report considers four major developments: major European operators intensifying their activity in sovereign digital services; product launches from chip vendors for AI data centres; how the mobile ecosystem is tapping into the growing physical AI market; and network API launches in the broader fintech space.

This report summarises the key findings from the December 2025 GSMA Intelligence Operators in Focus: Enterprise Opportunity Survey, which surveyed 100 global operators on their enterprise strategies, plans and emerging opportunities. Key topics include operators’ strategic priorities, partnerships, acquisitions and investment in enterprise 5G offerings such as private 5G, IoT, cloud, edge computing and network slicing.