Global M2M/IoT Communications Market Report 2021: Cellular IoT Connections Grew 12% to Reach 1.7 Billion in 2020 - Forecasts to 2025

DUBLIN, Aug. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The Global M2M/IoT Communications Market - 6th Edition" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

What are the latest trends and developments in cellular IoT, satellite IoT and low power wireless networking?

This report covers in-depth the mobile operator perspective on the global M2M/IoT communications market. Get up to date with the latest trends from all main regions and vertical markets with this unique report.

The report says that the global number of cellular IoT subscribers increased by 12 percent during 2020 to reach 1.74 billion. The regional markets Western Europe and North America recorded the highest growth rates at over 15 percent. By 2025, the analyst now projects that there will be 3.74 billion IoT devices connected to cellular networks worldwide.

The top ten mobile operators reported a combined active base of 1.49 billion cellular IoT connections at the end of 2020, accounting for 86 percent of total connections. China Mobile is the world's largest provider of cellular IoT connectivity services with an estimated 658 million cellular IoT connections. China Unicom and China Telecom ranked second and third with 240 million and 238 million connections respectively.

"The year 2020 marked the first year since the early 2010s that cellular IoT connections grew slower in China compared to the global average, as the largest player China Mobile reported a negative change in its IoT subscriber base", says Fredrik Stalbrand, Senior Analyst. Following China Mobile's decision to stop adding new IoT connections to its 2G network in the first half of 2020, it has embarked on a programme to migrate 2G users to NB-IoT and 4G LTE Cat-1 services.

Vodafone ranked first among the Western operators and fourth overall with 118 million connections, followed by AT&T with 81 million in fifth place. Verizon, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica had in the range 26-48 million cellular IoT connections. Orange and Telenor were the last players in the top ten with about 18 million and 17 million connections respectively. Apart from Deutsche Telekom, year-on-year growth rates for the mentioned Western operators were in the span of 8-22 percent.

IoT connectivity services account for around 1 percent of total revenues for most operator groups. The analysis of the IoT business KPIs released by mobile operators in different parts of the world suggests that global IoT connectivity revenues increased by around 6 percent during 2020, while the monthly APRU dropped by 16 percent to € 0.39.

This report answers the following questions:

• How will the global cellular IoT market evolve over the next five years?
• Why has China become the world's largest market for cellular IoT?
• Which are the main market trends in Europe and North America?
• What is the status of cellular IoT in emerging markets?
• What impact will 5G have on the IoT market?
• What are the leading global mobile operators' strategies for the IoT market?
• How much revenue from IoT was generated by major mobile operators in 2020?
• What is the outlook for emerging low-power wireless networking technologies?

Highlights from the report:

• 360-degree overview of the cellular IoT communications ecosystem.
• Update on the adoption of NB-IoT and LPWA standards for M2M/IoT networking.
• Reviews of the IoT strategies of leading mobile operators.
• Summary of industry trends in all world regions.
• IoT business KPIs for leading global mobile operators.
• Statistical data on cellular IoT subscribers in all world regions.
• Extensive global and regional market forecasts lasting until 2025.

Wide area networks for the Internet of Things

3GPP family of cellular technologies

• 3GPP Release 13 - Introducing LTE-M and NB-IoT
• 3GPP Release 14 - IoT enhancements and C-V2X
• 3GPP Release 15 - The first phase of 5G specifications
• 3GPP Release 16 - URLLC enhancements, IIoT features and 5G NR C-V2X
• 3GPP Release 17 - RedCap and non-terrestrial network communications
• Network footprint
• 2G mobile networks
• 3G/4G mobile networks
• 4G mobile IoT networks (LTE-M and NB-IoT)
• 5G mobile networks

LPWA and satellite technologies

• LoRa
• Sigfox
• Satellite networks

IoT networking platforms

• IoT connectivity management platforms
• SIM solutions and embedded UICC

International coverage and alliances

• Roaming and international coverage
• Mobile operator alliances

Market forecasts and trends

Industry trends

• Top ten mobile operators manage 1.5 billion cellular IoT subscribers
• IoT revenues continue to grow slower than connections
• IoT managed service providers connect 80+ million cellular devices
• International carriers enter the cellular IoT market
• New entrants disrupt distribution channels
• IoT MVNOs are driving consolidation in the IoT connectivity market

Vertical markets

• Connected cars on the rise
• Telematics giants increasingly dominate the fleet management industry
• Smarter grids and safer cities
• Asset tracking to drive the second wave of LPWA deployments
• Connected healthcare reaches the masses
• Connected video cameras to become one of the early volume 5G use cases

Technology trends

• Cellular technologies dominate wireless IoT
• NB-IoT deployments remain concentrated to China
• Product launches of 5G devices are picking up
• Distributed core networks facilitate global IoT connectivity services
• Private cellular networks to replace wired and wireless LAN networks
• eSIM adoption is gathering pace as the standard matures

Companies Mentioned

• 1NCE
• 1oT
• A1 Telekom Austria
• Aeris
• Airnity
• Altice Europe
• America Movil
• Arkessa (Wireless Logic)
• Astrocast
• AT&T
• Bell
• BICS
• Bouygues Telecom
• BT Group
• Caburn Group
• CASC and CASIC
• China Mobile
• China Telecom
• China Unicom
• CK Hutchison Group Telecom
• Com4 (Wireless Logic)
• Commsat
• Cubic Telecom
• Deutsche Telekom
• EMnify
• Eseye
• Etisalat
• Eutelsat
• Fleet Space Technologies
• Freeeway
• Galaxy Space
• Globalstar
• Head Aerospace
• Hiber
• iBASIS
• Inmarsat
• Iridium
• JT IoT
• KDDI
• Kepler Communications
• Kineis
• KORE Wireless
• KPN
• KT
• LPWA networks
• MegaFon
• MTN
• MTS
• Myriota
• NTT Docomo
• Onomondo
• Ooredoo
• Orange
• Orbcomm
• Pelion
• Plintron
• Pod Group (Giesecke+Devrient)
• POST Luxembourg
• Proximus
• Rogers Communications
• Sierra Wireless
• Sigfox networks
• Singtel
• SK Telecom
• Sky and Space Company
• SoftBank
• Soracom
• Swarm Technologies
• T-Mobile USA
• Tata Communications
• Tele2
• Telecom Italia
• Telefonica
• Telenor
• Telia Company
• Telit
• Telstra
• TELUS
• Thuraya
• Transatel
• Truphone
• Turkcell
• Twilio
• u-blox
• Unlimit
• Utility Connect
• Verizon
• Vivo and Telefonica Hispam
• Vodacom
• Vodafone Idea
• Vodafone
• Wireless Logic
• Zain

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3d5tmz

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