IoT connections outlook
Half of all cellular IoT connections are Broadband IoT
Key findings
Broadband IoT makes up more than 50 percent of all cellular IoT connections.
Total cellular IoT connections are forecast to reach around 4 billion at the end of 2024.
The number of 2G/3G IoT devices has a predicted negative annual growth rate of 20 percent up to 2029.
The Massive IoT technologies NB-IoT and Cat-M – supporting wide-area use cases involving large numbers of low-complexity, low-cost devices with long battery lives and low-to-medium throughput – continue to be rolled out around the world. Globally, 133 service providers have deployed or commercially launched NB-IoT networks and 61 have launched Cat-M.[1] The total number of cellular IoT connections reached 3.4 billion at the end of 2023 and is forecast to approach 4 billion at the end of 2024. The growth of Massive IoT technologies is enhanced by added capabilities in the networks, enabling Massive IoT to co-exist with 4G and 5G in frequency division duplex (FDD) bands, via spectrum sharing.
IoT devices connected via 2G and 3G are declining, and are predicted to have a negative annual growth rate of around 20 percent up to 2029, as the rate of switch-off for both technologies will continue to increase in the coming years.
IoT connections (billion)
| IoT | 2023 | 2029 | CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wide-area IoT | 3.6 | 7.2 | 12% |
| Cellular IoT | 3.4 | 6.7 | 12% |
| Short-range IoT | 12.1 | 31.6 | 17% |
| Total | 15.7 | 38.8 | 16% |
Note: Based on rounded figures. Cellular IoT figures are also included in the figures for wide-area IoT.
Broadband IoT (4G/5G) reached around 1.8 billion connections in 2023 and is the technology that is expected to continue to connect the largest share of cellular IoT devices through 2029. This segment mainly includes wide-area use cases that require higher throughput, lower latency and larger data volumes than can be supported by Massive IoT devices. LTE Cat-1 devices, which support 10 Mbps downlink and 5 Mbps uplink speeds, are increasingly being used for various use cases. Broadband IoT will be further strengthened by the introduction of reduced capability (RedCap) 5G New Radio (NR) devices. Four service providers have launched commercial services based on 5G RedCap.[2] By the end of 2029, around 60 percent of cellular IoT connections are forecast to be broadband IoT, with 4G connecting the majority. As 5G NR is being introduced in old and new spectrum, throughput data rates will increase substantially for this segment. North East Asia is the leading region in terms of the number of cellular IoT connections and had almost a 70 percent share of all connections in 2023.
