The year so far has seen a marked rise in the value and size of an internet of things (IoT) arena that has witnessed new technical standards, devices and evolving market complexities, and a study from Berg Insight has calculated that global IoT connectivity revenues increased by 12% annually to reach €14.2bn in 2024.
In The global M2M/IoT communications market report, the IoT market research firm projects that 2029 will see 6.4 billion IoT devices connected to cellular networks worldwide, generating annual connectivity revenues of €22.4bn.
Berg Insight estimates that the global number of cellular IoT subscribers increased by 14% in 2024 to reach 3.8 billion at the end of the year, corresponding to around 30% of all mobile subscribers. Over the next four years, the number of cellular IoT subscribers is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%, to reach 6.4 billion in 2029. During the same period, cellular IoT connectivity revenues are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 9.6%, from €14.2bn in 2024 to approximately €22.4bn in 2029. Meanwhile, the monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to drop from €0.33 to €0.30.
Another key trend revealed in the report was that IoT connectivity revenues are growing at a slower rate than the number of connections. According to the analysis, key performance indicators released by mobile operators in different parts of the world suggest that global IoT connectivity revenues increased by around 12% in 2024, while monthly ARPU dropped by 5%.
The top 10 mobile operators reported a combined active base of 3.3 billion cellular IoT connections at the end of 2024, accounting for 86% of the total 3.8 billion connections.
The report noted that China was the world’s largest market for cellular IoT connectivity services by volume, and cited China Mobile as being the world’s largest provider of cellular IoT connectivity services, with 1.42bn cellular IoT connections. Arch rivals China Telecom and China Unicom ranked second and third, with 628 million and 625 million connections, respectively.
According to data from the Chinese national telecoms regulator, the installed base in the country grew by 14% year on year to reach 2.7 billion IoT connections at the end of 2024, corresponding to about 70% of the global installed base.
Berg believes the role of the Chinese government is the main reason China is ahead of the rest of the world in the adoption of IoT. Authorities have actively endorsed large-scale IoT deployments as a method for addressing problems affecting society, such as crime, fire safety, energy conservation or traffic management. It added that the private sector is being directed and encouraged to do the same.
Vodafone ranked first among the Western operators and fourth overall with 204 million connections, followed by AT&T with 143 million in fifth place. Deutsche Telekom and Verizon had in the range of 56-60 million cellular IoT connections each. KDDI, Telefónica and Orange were the last players in the top 10, with about 49 million, 45 million and 37 million connections, respectively. The installed bases of the largest mobile operators grew at a rate of between 5% and 26% annually.
IoT managed service providers were also seen to be playing a key role in the ecosystem. The report noted that most players operate as full mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), typically offering IoT connectivity services based on a mix of roaming and local access agreements, and sometimes value-added services targeted at vertical segments.
Notable examples cited by Berg Insight included 1GLOBAL, 1NCE, Aeris, BICS, CSL Group, Cubic, emnify, Eseye, floLIVE, Giesecke+Devrient, KORE, Monogoto, Onomondo, Semtech, Soracom, Tata Communications, Teal, Telit Cinterion, Velos IoT and Wireless Logic.
Altogether, IoT managed service providers had more than 200 million cellular IoT connections under management at the end of 2024 and around €1.8bn in annual revenues.
