According to IoT Analytics, 5G IoT connections are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 44% from 2024 to 2030.
According to a recent report from IoT Analytics, the global cellular IoT connections market will generate $15 billion in revenue in 2023 from a total of 3.6 billion cellular IoT connections.
In the consolidated market, the top five mobile IoT network operators control 83% of global cellular IoT connections, with the top five by revenue accounting for 64% of total revenue, according to the report.
China Mobile accounted for 46% of global cellular IoT connections and 20% of global cellular IoT connection revenue in 2023. According to IoT Analytics, China Mobile’s cellular IoT connections grew 20% year-on-year due to its one-stop solution strategy, which shifted its focus from pure connectivity to comprehensive solutions.
Meanwhile, China Telecom accounted for 15% of global cellular IoT connections and 7% of global cellular IoT connection revenue last year. China Telecom’s cellular IoT connections grew 28% year-on-year, driven by its focus on city management solutions, according to the research firm.
China Unicom accounts for 14% of global cellular IoT connections and 10% of global cellular IoT connection revenue. The carrier’s cellular IoT connections grew 28% year-over-year due to the adoption of 4G and 5G high-speed technologies.
Meanwhile, UK-based Vodafone accounted for 5% of global cellular IoT connections and 9% of global cellular IoT connection revenue last year. IoT Analytics highlighted that Vodafone’s cellular IoT connections grew 15% year-on-year, driven by strong demand from the automotive sector.
US telecommunications company AT&T accounts for 4% of global cellular IoT connections and 12% of global cellular IoT connection revenue, with cellular IoT connections growing 19% year-on-year, thanks in part to strong demand from the automotive sector.
“5G RedCap is poised to transform the IoT landscape by making 5G capabilities more accessible and supporting a multitude of applications, from industrial to consumer IoT. Design optimizations such as reduced channel bandwidth and upper limiting modulation orders make devices more efficient and cost-effective. By leveraging existing 5G infrastructure, RedCap ensures the longevity of current deployments and eases the transition to next-generation connectivity. With better uplink performance and longer battery life than LTE Cat 1 and Cat-4, it fills the critical needs of medium-speed use cases such as wearables and smart cameras,” said Satyajit Sinha, principal analyst at IoT Analytics.
The report predicts that 5G and 5G RedCap will account for nearly 50% of mobile operator IoT connection revenue by 2030. 5G and 5G RedCap are also projected to increase their market revenue share to nearly majority by the end of this period, driving the global cellular IoT connection market at a CAGR of up to 18% from 2024 to 2030. According to IoT Analytics, 5G IoT connections are projected to grow at a CAGR of 44% from 2024 to 2030.
The report notes that IoT devices incorporating RedCap modules do not require strict or deterministic latency, as do time-critical communications applications. Such devices require data rates of less than 150 Mbps for download and 50 Mbps for upload, with latency of less than 100 milliseconds. “This reduces device complexity and costs, enabling a significant increase in the number of consumer, enterprise and industrial devices brought to market using 5G RedCap,” the company concludes.
