Global LPWAN IoT connections are on track to grow at a hefty 46% CAGR through to 2025, research firm IDTechEx has predicted.
Much of the growth is expedited to come from China, which has set a target of having 600 million NB-IoT connections in 2020, IDTechEx noted in a new report.
The driving force for LPWAN connections are smart city applications, with initial projects concentrated on areas including utility monitoring, street lighting, car parking and pollution and people monitoring.
The report adds that there are many options available for both licensed and unlicensed spectrum technologies.
In some countries the type of licensed spectrum protocol being put in place is in part chosen based on the IP strengths of the network providers in those areas, with many providers favoring one choice above all others.
But IDTechEx also noted that many of these choices are being promoted with “smoke and mirror marketing” that inflates estimates about number of connections in an attempt for vendors to present their technologies as using the protocol of choice for the IoT.