News
Connected cars will dominate early days of 5G in Internet of Things space, analyst firm predicts; points out LPWA is finding its feet.
Connected cars will dominate the early stages of 5G rollouts in the Internet of Things (IoT) space, according to new figures released by Machina Research late last week.
The fifth, as-yet undefined, generation of mobile technology will power 10 million IoT connections in 2024, accounting for just 0.5% of all cellular IoT connections at that date, the analyst firm predicts. However, IoT will account for a quarter of all 5G connections, which will number 41 million.
"5G in the early days is mostly about faster connectivity for PCs, tablets and handsets, rather than IoT," said Matt Hatton, CEO of Machina Research. 
"Most IoT applications won’t demand the high bandwidth and low latency networks that 5G promises, but there are a few exceptions," Hatton said.
Indeed, Machina’s research shows that around three quarters of those 10 million IoT connections in 2024 will be in the connected car space, the vast majority of those being embedded vehicle connections.
The firm also highlights CCTV and digital signage as potential 5G early adopters.
Understandably, Machina believes the advanced Asian markets of Japan and South Korea will lead the way in the 2020-21 timeframe, with Europe, China and North America following on a couple of years later.
Separately, Machina Research revealed that it has begun tracking the nascent market for low-power wide area (LPWA) networks, which are becoming increasingly important in the IoT space.
The number of LPWA connections globally trebled during 2015 to reach 23.2 million by the end of the year, the company said.
Despite recent announcements of funding rounds, partnerships and the like, few LPWA suppliers have released public data or shared details of large-scale customer deployments, Machina pointed out. Nonetheless, based on pilots and proof-of-concept deployments in recent months, the firm said it expects to see more material evidence of market growth in the next few quarters.
"In dedicated LPWA, much of the attention has so far revolved around Sigfox and LoRaWAN, and in the coming months especially Ingenu’s RPMA should increase its mindshare amongst the adopters," said principal analyst Aapo Markkanen.
"In the meantime, Telensa – which is arguably the most tried and tested LPWA option out there – has just got in fresh financing," Markkanen noted. "Further technological advancement is driven by innovators such as Accellus, M2Communication, Nwave, and WAVIoT, although all these names have a lot of work to do on the commercial side of their strategies," he said.
