NB-IoT & LTE-M Summary February 2022 – Global Ecosystem

NB-IoT & LTE-M Summary February 2022 – Global Ecosystem

SUMMARY REPORT

Mobile industry commitment to the range of 3GPP-standards-based low-power wide area network technologies continues to be demonstrated by the steady rise in the number of networks supporting NB-IoT, although the number actively investing in LTE-MTC (LTE-M) networks has dropped by one since the previous update, and by the substantial growth in the number of Cat NB1, Cat NB2 and Cat M1 compliant devices.

On the network side, there are:

• 140 operators that have deployed/launched NB-IoT or LTE-M networks in 64 countries
• 166 operators actively investing in NB-IoT technology, of which:
• 124 have deployed or commercially launched NB-IoT networks
• 23 are planning, piloting or deploying NB-IoT networks
• 19 are evaluating or trialling NB-IoT technology
• 74 operators actively investing in LTE-M technology, of which:
• 55 have deployed or commercially launched LTE-M networks
• 10 are planning, piloting or deploying LTE-M networks
• 9 are trialling LTE-M technology

Note that a technology is regarded as deployed when it has been installed in the operator’s commercial network and is intended for continued commercial use (a trial or pilot installation might be discontinued). A network is considered to be commercially launched once it is available at least on a limited basis for the use of commercial customers.

In terms of IoT equipment, GSA has identified a significant rise in both the number and range of devices supporting 3GPP IoT standards since the previous update in April 2021:

744 devices supporting either Cat M1, Cat NB1 (NB-IoT) or Cat NB2, 44% more than were in the GAMBoD database at the end of April 2021

Within that total:

• 479 devices support Cat NB1 (including known variants), up from 362 in nine months
• 116 identified device models support Cat NB2, up from 71 models nine months ago
• 566 devices support Cat M1 (including known variants), up from 371 device models since our last issue of this report

Major industry initiatives worldwide, in areas like connected and autonomous vehicles, connected or smart homes, agriculture, robotics, smart industry, smart cities and smart energy, are exploring the potential of the Internet of things (IoT). Companies are actively working on IoT use cases involving both NB-IoT and LTE-M, and the market has seen a boost from the greater need for remote operations during the pandemic.

We expect the IoT market to grow rapidly over the next five years and for 3GPP technologies to gain market share as part of that.

IoT infrastructure, chipsets, modules and devices are now available from a range of companies: large and small, well-established and start-ups. The increasing size of the 3GPP ecosystem will further drive commercialization and economies of scale in IoT, with mobile operators, infrastructure suppliers, chipset and module manufacturers, device companies and development and testing houses supporting new services.

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NB-IoT & LTE-M February 2022 – Global Ecosystem
NB-IoT & LTE-M Summary February 2022 – Global Ecosystem