Analysys Mason: Predictions for IoT in 2019

“IoT will continue to be a mixed picture for operators in 2019 – for some, it is turning into a real business while others are struggling to establish a role.” IoT has promised to deliver for many years. IoT (then named M2M) teams have existed in the larger operators for over a decade, but today few earn more than 1% of total revenue from IoT. Operators, with some reason, are feeling disappointed by progress. And yet, in many ways the prospects for IoT are improving for operators. Operators with a strong vertical focus are showing that IoT can be a real business (for example, Verizon will earn over USD1 billion from telematics in 2018, and Telefónica’s retail division On the Spot has customers in around 100 countries). NB-IoT and LTE-M are looking stronger than LoRa or Sigfox in the LPWA market. Almost 100 NB-IoT and almost 40 LTE-M networks are deployed or planned. For many operators, IoT has established itself as a fast-growing (10%+ year-on-year revenue growth) division helping to counter declines elsewhere.