Category: Internet of Things

Critical Industries Going Digital Requires Critical Technology Ecosystem

by Malcolm Rogers, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things
M. Rogers

Summary Bullets:

• Critical Digital Shift: The critical industry are evolving to take advantage of new digital solutions as traditional radio-based operations evolves to include AI, video, and automation.

• Wider Ecosystem: The adoption of digital solutions by critical industries will require mission-critical clouds and mission-critical broadband, opening critical comms to a wider ecosystem.

Critical industries in areas such as defense, emergency services, and transportation are seeing broader adoption of digital technologies. Previously more hesitant than traditional enterprise, the use of digital technologies like AI, video analytics, automated workflow software, IoT, and even drones, are making an impact for these industries. Long-time providers of critical radio systems like Motorola, Tait, and Thales are now evolving software and video solutions. Meanwhile, newer digitally focused providers like Orion Labs and Streamwide are targeting critical industries with solutions around digital platforms and automation, competing on ability to deliver creative integrations with partners to unlock new use cases. However, this shift toward digital will also require a shift in the underlying infrastructure to deliver critical services.

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Microsoft Joins BlackRock in $100-billion Investment Drive to Fund Data Center Infrastructure Projects

by Beatriz Valle, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable, Internet of Things
B. Valle

Summary Bullets:

• BlackRock is launching the investment vehicle with its new infrastructure unit, Global Infrastructure Partners.

• Microsoft and MGX, the investment company backed by Abu Dhabi (UAE), are general partners in the fund. Nvidia will act as an advisor, focusing on factory design.

Data center infrastructure stands at the crux of the generative AI (genAI) revolution: without bricks and mortar, without chips, without servers and networking gear, there would be no genAI bots. The power-hungry algorithms that feed Chat-GPT and other familiar platforms require vast amounts of hardware as well as lots of energy. The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts electricity consumption by data centers from workloads such as AI will surpass 1,000 terawatt-hours by 2026, more than twice the amount – 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) – used in 2022.

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Recent Initiatives by Global IoT Providers Reflect Commitment to Capturing Growth

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things
John Marcus – Senior Principal Analyst, Enterprise IoT, Mobility, Private Networks, and Service Innovations

Summary Bullets:

• The Internet of Things (IoT) services landscape continues to evolve with global connectivity service and solution providers announcing notable advancements and initiatives over the past several months.

• Key trends include the expansion of 5G capabilities, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and network application programming interfaces (APIs), and a strong emphasis on sustainability and energy efficiency.

GlobalData recently published its product assessment of 10 global IoT service providers and an accompanying competitive landscape report as well as an update to its Global Market Opportunity Forecasts to 2028: Enterprise IoT Market model. This blog focuses on key themes among new initiatives and service launches during H1 2024.

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Operators Face Multiple Hurdles Before 5G Network Slicing Can Be Offered Commercially

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things, Mobilize, Network
John Marcus – Senior Principal Analyst, Enterprise IoT, Mobility, Private Networks, and Service Innovations.

Summary Bullets:

• In January 2024, GlobalData predicted that the business services units of mobile operators would begin promoting 5G network slicing in 2024, educating enterprise customers about the technology being enabled by their rollouts of 5G standalone (SA) technology.

• Even with some progress on 5G SA rollouts around the world (and a handful of commercial trials), it’s already clear that this prediction was premature.

The potential with slicing to create multiple virtual networks within a single physical infrastructure – each tailored to specific needs – is still very much there, but a number of challenges must yet be addressed before operators can successfully launch 5G network slicing solutions for enterprises.

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Ericsson Flexes Increasing US Strength with 5G Factory, Federal Contract, and AT&T Win

by Rena Bhattacharyya, posted in Internet of Things
R. Bhattacharyya

Summary Bullets:

• Ericsson is investing to solidify and expand its US presence and ecosystem of partners to gain an edge over competitors based overseas.

• Ericsson’s messaging reflects the evolving domestic political climate and changing global geopolitical environment.

In late May 2024, Ericsson hosted industry analysts to its 5G smart factory in Dallas, Texas (US). The key theme of the event was that Ericsson provides “5G made in the US, for the US.” The Swedish telecom equipment provider reminded attendees that it has been operating in the US for 122 years and that 26% of its sales are from North America. Furthermore, it maintains six R&D facilities, employs 7,600 people, and has invested over $7 billion in acquisitions in the region. In March 2024, the company formed a new division, Ericsson Federal Technologies Group, to help the US federal government deploy 5G solutions. Via its Dallas facility, Ericsson meets the government’s requirements to support open RAN technologies and equipment manufactured in the US.

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Vodafone 5G Edge Update Notes Maturing Portfolio – and Customers

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things, Mobilize, Network
John Marcus – Senior Principal Analyst, Enterprise IoT, Mobility, Private Networks, and Service Innovations.

Summary Bullets:

• Vodafone has now delivered more than 100 mobile private networks (MPNs), most of which are now in production environments.

• Vodafone’s MPN portfolio incorporates hybrid networks and slicing, but most production deployments include a dedicated, on-premises component – although MEC demand remains limited.

Vodafone Business provided an update to analysts in May 2024 on what Vodafone calls its 5G edge. For the most part, this refers to its dedicated MPN offering, but also incorporates hybrid MPN and mobile edge compute (MEC) solutions.

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Comcast Sees Upside in Mobility as it Makes Pragmatic Moves to Tap Growth

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things, Mobilize
John Marcus – Senior Principal Analyst, Enterprise IoT, Mobility, Private Networks, and Service Innovations.

Summary Bullets:

• Comcast Business has set a long-term goal of generating its “next $10 billion” in annual revenues.

• Mobile and IoT are among areas where some of that growth is being sought, but efforts so far can be described as pragmatic and realistic.

As Comcast Business contemplates what it sees as a total addressable market of $50 billion, it has been pragmatically plugging holes in its portfolio to pursue some of the lower-hanging fruit around small business, including mobile (where it reported 6.9 million consumer and business customers in Q1 2024). Indeed, mobility and IoT were included often in executives’ comments at the Comcast Business Analyst Conference in April 2024 where there was also agreement that it remains early days for the company in those domains.

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Lower Emissions, Circularity, and Repurposing Street Furniture for Sustainability in the UK

by Rob Pritchard, posted in Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Network
R. Pritchard

Summary Bullets:

• Virgin Media O2 reports significant direct carbon emissions reductions, climate-related efficiencies through smart meters, and progress in the circular economy with device refurbishment and reuse.

• BT’s trial of repurposed street cabinets for vehicle charging adds to initiatives and innovations that illustrate potential power of action by tech companies and customers.

In the week reported, the world’s oceans have broken temperature records every single day of 2023 and – shortly after – the UK government was defeated in court for not doing enough to meet its targets for cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, it is encouraging to see telcos in the UK addressing the global climate crisis.

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Enterprise IoT Platform Enhancements Enrich Usability, Security, and Application Breadth

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Internet of Things
Kathryn Weldon – Research Director, Business Network and IT Services – Americas

Summary Bullets:

• IoT platform vendor dropouts were in the news in 2023, suggesting not only consolidation but reduced demand and profitability concerns.

• While hyperscalers remain leaders, industrial stalwarts such as PTC, Software AG, and Siemens are still innovating and enhancing platforms with security, easy of use, and integration with adjacent products in their portfolios.

Over the last year, the most compelling changes in the market for enterprise IoT platforms were the dropping out of key vendors including Google Cloud IoT (in August 2023), presumably based on lack of revenues/profitability; the decommissioning of most services from SAP’s IoT PaaS offering, announced at end-2023; and IBM’s winding down of its Watson IoT platform service in December 2023, with IBM focusing instead on offering IoT capabilities via its hybrid cloud solutions and software. In addition to these dropouts of platforms, which focused on IoT application enablement, products focused on connectivity and device management, such as the Ericsson IoT Connectivity platform, changed hands, having been sold to IoT MVNO and platform vendor Aeris. Some of the other original leaders have also marginalized their IoT offerings, embedding them in vertical solutions, or combining IoT with big data and AI tools, positioning IoT primarily as a data collection enabler. Industrial stalwarts Software AG and Siemens, however, are becoming innovators in this market, with good reviews for functionality, vertical solutions, and contributions to positive ROI.

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MWC24: IoT Providers are Navigating Market Consolidation and Uneven Growth

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things

J. Marcus

Summary Bullets:

• IoT providers that have led the market for years continued to press forward in a more mature but still unpredictable market, navigating technology and commercial disruptions while considering new growth opportunities

• Pricing, competition, consolidation, eSIM, and trends in the key connected car space (including growth in 5G connections) were among the issues discussed in analyst briefings

Leading traditional IoT connectivity providers from the ranks of mobile network operators broke little or no news at MWC 2024 held in Barcelona, although each maintained an impressive presence in terms of exhibits, speakers, and IoT business leaders. Disruptive IoT MVNO and platform provider 1NCE did manage to draw significant attention from its booth near the food trucks, launching a unique offer for emerging high data requirements use cases priced simply at EUR5 per gigabyte. 1NCE has been offering prepaid low bandwidth services (ten years for $10) for use cases such as smart metering, street lighting, and asset tracking for several years. Now it has innovated again, offerings speeds of up to 25 Mbps for video surveillance and industrial monitoring requirements using its flat rate pricing for data usage.

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