Mobile Internet of Things Low Power Wide Area Connectivity.

Aimed at business leaders, this paper discusses low power, wide area (LPWA) technologies that will enable connected devices to have a battery life measured in years, rather than days or months. They will also make it cost effective to connect billions more devices, machines and vehicles to their owners, to the Internet and to each other. Strategy Analytics, for example, forecasts there will be well over one billion LPWA connections by the end of 2018 and more than five billion LPWA connections by the end of 2022. Although the average revenue per LPWA connection is likely to be relatively low, this new technology will enable the mobile industry to add substantial value to the IoT. Analysys Mason forecasts LPWA technologies will generate $970 million globally in connectivity revenue in 2018, rising to $7.5 billion in 2022. By that time, Strategy Analytics estimates network operators could be generating more than $13 billion from LPWA connectivity, as well as significant additional revenues from value-added services, such as data analytics and security. LPWA connectivity is particularly well-suited to IoT applications, such as environmental sensors, energy meters, logistics tracking and animal and crop monitoring, that require large numbers of widely dispersed devices to send occasional status updates. It can also be used to remotely activate devices, such as sprinklers, lights and air conditioning. As many devices won’t be connected to an electricity supply, they need to be run on batteries and be frugal with power. As well as enabling many more devices to be connected, LPWA will be used to provide backup connectivity, or more robust connectivity, for some applications, such as intruder alarms or vehicle accident alerts. Analysts believe LPWA connectivity will be widely used in utilities, heavy industry and manufacturing, building automation, agriculture and land management, transport and logistics, and smart cities, as well as enabling the development of new kinds of wearable devices for consumers.

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