Market research firm Kaleido Intelligence has reviewed a bunch of cellular IoT providers for the supply of connectivity management platforms (CMP), eSIM connectivity, and eSIM subscription management – and ranked Vodafone, Eseye, G+D, and Thales as the best in the business. Vodafone was rated ‘champion’ for CMP; Eseye was rated the same for eSIM connectivity; G+D and Thales shared the title for ‘champion’ eSIM management provider.
The firm said it studied the cellular IoT connectivity market for four months, running various primary and secondary research (demos, questionnaires, interviews, briefings) to rank 39 companies in total. It said it categorised vendors based on their product excellence, market positioning, problem-solving, innovation prowess, plus their “ability to align with current market needs and future demands”.
In total, it handed out ‘champion’ scores (12+ out of 15) to 12 vendors, with Vodafone, Eseye, G+D, and Thales ranked highest of them. It listed them all: Airlinq, Cisco, MAVOCO, Soracom, and Telefonica Tech for their CMP offerings; Pod Group (part of G+D) and Tata Communications for eSIM connectivity; and IDEMIA for eSIM subscription management. A further 22 vendors were recognised as ‘high-flyers’ (10-12/15).
Steffen Sorrell, chief of research at Kaleido, said: “Connectivity is the bedrock of IoT but it remains fragmented with a series of roadblocks in place that often lead to project failure. Leaders in the market are lowering those roadblocks, be it through their underlying infrastructure and software, connectivity agreements or seamless management across different realms of connectivity enablement.”
Erik Brenneis, chief executive for IoT of Vodafone Business, said: “As more customers adopt and rely on IoT, platform performance and capability become paramount. I am delighted Kaleido has recognised our connectivity management platform GDSP, as the number one ‘champion’ in its eSIM and CMP assessment. By developing and owning our platform we can respond rapidly to changing… demands to ensure that customers are always at the forefront of IoT.”
Nick Earle, chief executive at Eseye, said: “For the third straight year, we’ve been recognised as a ‘champion’, and this year as the number one firm, confirming our position as the market leader in eSIM connectivity solutions. Our advanced multi-IMSI and eUICC capabilities, multi-award-winning IoT connectivity management platform, and AnyNet Federation set us apart from the other 25 vendors, allowing us to deliver… [and] deploy IoT at scale.”
The results are available in its Connectivity Vendor Hub.
