The GSMA has reported that mobile IoT networks—also known as Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks—are now available in licensed spectrum across 49 markets worldwide.
This expansion follows 93 launches by 50 different mobile operators deploying both LTE-M and NB‑IoT technologies. Current coverage is expected to reach nearly 93% of total IoT markets by the second quarter of 2019. GSMA Intelligence forecasts about 3.5 billion cellular IoT connections by 2025, including roughly 1.9 billion connections on licensed LPWA networks.
To date, 68 NB‑IoT networks have launched across 45 markets, and 25 LTE‑M networks have launched across 19 markets. These rollouts are supported by 47 Open Labs worldwide, providing organisations with testing environments to validate products and services before commercial launch.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, several European operators introduced new services: Altice in Portugal launched NB‑IoT; Orange launched LTE‑M in France and Romania; the Telenor Group deployed NB‑IoT and LTE‑M in Norway; Telia introduced NB‑IoT in Estonia; SFR launched NB‑IoT in France; Swisscom rolled out NB‑IoT and LTE‑M in Switzerland; and Vodafone launched NB‑IoT in Malta. During the same period in Asia, Grameenphone launched NB‑IoT in Bangladesh, Chunghwa introduced LTE‑M in Taiwan, Telkomsel launched NB‑IoT in Indonesia, and MegaFon and MTS launched NB‑IoT services in Russia.
Additionally, Verizon and Spark deployed LTE‑M in North America and New Zealand respectively, STC launched NB‑IoT in Saudi Arabia, and Telefónica introduced LTE‑M in Argentina.
Earlier GSMA Intelligence data released in May indicated the broader IoT market is shifting from pure connectivity to platforms, applications and services. That analysis estimated global IoT revenues could reach £0.84 trillion by 2025, and projected more than 25 billion total IoT connections—cellular and non‑cellular combined—by the same year.
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