Kicking of the 2025 version of RCR Wireless’ annual crystal-ball gazing – to consider how the broad Industry 4.0 market (covering private networks, industrial IoT, edge computing, AI analytics, and everything else) might develop in the next 12 months – the ever-ready Wienke Giezeman, co-founder at Dutch LoRaWAN collective The Things Industries, gets right to the heart of it.
The low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) era as we know it is transforming. In 2025, we’ll see the ‘WAN’ in LPWAN replaced by ‘LAN’, marking the rise of low-power local-area IoT networks (LPLAN). Private IoT networks will take centre stage as the ideal architecture for deploying low-power devices, pushing beyond the traditional LPWAN vision of nationwide or global networks managed by operators.
For over a decade, LPWAN technologies such as Sigfox, LoRaWAN, and NB-IoT have promised global or nationwide connectivity for low-power devices. These technologies were conceived with the hypothesis that operators could maintain and monetize large-scale networks for battery-powered IoT applications, ranging from smart meters to environmental monitoring.
However, in 2023 and 2024, the cracks in this hypothesis became apparent. The decline of operator-led LPWAN initiatives has coincided with a sharp pivot toward private network deployments. These private networks, which better align with the performance and energy-efficiency needs of IoT devices, are paving the way for LPLAN to dominate the future of enterprise IoT.
Private networks work for IoT
Private deployments unlock the true value of low-power IoT devices by delivering optimized network performance. Unlike operator-managed LPWANs, where device performance often competes with broader network priorities, private networks give enterprises full control. This control ensures that devices achieve their promised low-power performance without compromises due to latency, congestion, or other external factors.
Moreover, private networks enable rapid deployment. Solutions like LoRaWAN gateways and enterprise-ready platforms have matured, allowing businesses to deploy LPLANs within minutes. These networks can be tailored to specific environments, ensuring reliability and security while reducing operational costs. This transition to private networks is evident across LPWAN technologies.
Sigfox has shifted its focus to becoming a solutions provider, emphasizing use cases rather than large-scale network operations. LoRaWAN operators are increasingly acting as private network platform providers, enabling enterprises to deploy and manage their own networks. NB-IoT is facing sunset scenarios in some regions as operators deprioritize low-power connectivity. With low-power technologies effectively excluded from the 3GPP roadmap, the IoT focus in the 5G era is on RedCap and eRedCap – which are not true low-power solutions.
The only faint future promise for low-power cellular IoT lies in early discussions around ambient IoT – but those remain speculative at best. Also, all the recent knocks to NB-IoT have an impact on satellite IoT, also. IoT companies that use parts of that technology are done. Other initiatives have seen promise for more than eight years now, but lack technological scalability, proper channels, and feasible business models.
Starlink’s plan to utilize LTE technologies like Cat-1bis demonstrate a move away from true low-power IoT. Indeed, all of these shifts underscore the broader realization that the low-power IoT future lies not in wide-area networks but in tailored, localised deployments.
The LPLAN future is already here
The LPLAN paradigm is already delivering results, including in: smart metering, where private networks support millions of devices to improve energy management; building management systems, where private networks connect smart heating and cooling systems; retail and logistics, where private networks deliver real-time digital twins for inventory tracking, predictive maintenance, and customer interactions; and industrial IoT, where private networks monitor and optimise machinery and processes, and reduce downtime.
In each case, the common thread is smarter operations and better sustainability. These examples demonstrate that private networks are not just an emerging trend – they are the present reality, scaling across industries to drive measurable outcomes.
One of the lasting legacies of the global LPWAN movement is the ecosystem it has created. Hardware, devices, and software designed for LPWAN are seamlessly transitioning to LPLAN. The versatility of these devices makes private deployments accessible to businesses of all sizes, while their availability accelerates adoption. As well, the modularity and affordability of private IoT networks ensure they can be deployed flexibly across environments, from urban smart cities to rural farms.
This versatility positions LPLAN as the backbone of the low-power IoT future.
As we move into 2025, the trajectory is clear: LPLAN will emerge as the dominant architecture for low-power IoT deployments. This shift represents not the end of LPWAN but its evolution. By embracing private networks, enterprises can unlock the full potential of IoT, achieving energy efficiency, scalability, and reliability in ways that wide-area solutions could not. The low-power enterprise IoT future is not just bright – it is here, and it is private.
