Global revenues from cellular IoT networks increased 24 percent to reach €10.8 billion in 2022, calculates analyst firm Berg Insight. However they account for just two percent of total mobile revenues among the largest operator groups, it said, and are in general decline, with average revenue per IoT connection (ARPU) sliding one percent in the period to just €0.38. Nevertheless, the ARPU decline on IoT is slowing (“just one percent”), said the firm.
By 2027, there will be 5.3 billion IoT devices connected to cellular networks worldwide, forecasts Berg Insight projects; these will generate annual connectivity revenues of €21.4 billion, more than double the 2022-number in revenue terms (and about double the 2022-number in subscriber terms). The top 10 mobile operators reported a combined active base of 2.3 billion cellular IoT connections at the end of 2022; this is 87 percent of the total (2.7 billion connections).
China Mobile is the world’s largest provider of cellular IoT connectivity services with 1.06 billion cellular IoT connections by a considerable margin (more than 100 percent); China Telecom and China Unicom rank second and third with 407 million and 390 million connections respectively. Vodafone ranks highest among Western operators, and fourth overall with 160 million connections; AT&T ranks in fifth with 107 million.
Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefónica trail behind in six, seven, and eight, said Berg Insight; they have “between 36 and 57 million” each. KDDI and Orange round out the top 10, with about 30 million each. The fastest annual growth among the top 10 was around 37 percent; Berg Insight has withheld the specifics for a forthcoming report, behind a paywall, linked here.
It noted the success of MVNOs in the IoT space, particularly in Europe and the US. Collectively, MVNOs account for over 150 million cellular IoT connections (“under management”), as of the end of 2022, and around €1.5 billion in annual revenue. It cited Velos IoT, Aeris, KORE Wireless, 1NCE, and Wireless Logic as “notable” MVNOs. It stated: “Most players operate as full MVNOs, typically offering IoT connectivity services based on a mix of roaming and local access agreements and sometimes also value-added services targeted at vertical segments.”
