Growth Opportunities for Telcos in IoT

Growth Opportunities for Telcos in IoT

The key challenge for telecom operators (telcos) is to go beyond connectivity and provide business solutions to enterprise customers, as well as connected home and digital lifestyle services to consumers. A solid ecosystem strategy and effective execution by operators are key requisites to address this challenge.

The IoT space is still in flux. Unlike more mature Information and communications technology (ICT) markets, the IoT space also has significant overlap with other industries, such as automotive, energy, and transportation. To accurately observe and measure IoT-related economic activity, Frost & Sullivan uses the definition above to determine if a technology product, application, or service is to be considered part of the IoT.

Until recently, IoT was a competitive advantage, while now it is a competitive requirement. For traditional telcos, the ecosystem has evolved and now they must either evolve or perish.

About 60 LTE-M and 110 NB-IoT networks were in operation worldwide as of February 2022. With commercial launches of long-term evolution machine-type communication (LTE-M), NB-IoT, and private LTE networks, in addition to the launch of 5G in different regions, traditional mobile operators have started launching more affordable and attractive connectivity offerings. Stretching beyond their role as connectivity providers, telecom operators are acquiring end-to-end IoT capabilities with new business and operational models that promote greater agility and flexibility.

A total of 4 companies—Verizon, Telefónica, Claro Brasil, and NTT Docomo—were selected and profiled for the purpose of this research to identify trends in the industry across different regions and track how the ecosystem is evolving around them. This study outlines each company’s portfolio, value proposition, emerging use cases by verticals, and success stories. Recent developments are also included to provide an overall view of each company’s strategy and direction.

RESEARCH SCOPE

This study analyzes how the global IoT ecosystem of operators is configured, in addition to providing details about strategy, business models, verticals of focus, case studies, and other relevant information about the market and its participants. To be considered a component of the IoT, any product, application, or service must be part of a larger solution that comprises these 4 elements:

Objects that are virtualized and imbued with data measurement capabilities
The ability to grant identities to physical and virtual objects
Interconnections between these objects for monitoring and interaction
The ability to generate real-time insights from data and incorporate them into existing business processes