Less than 10% of companies use 5G for IoT

IoT professionals are still unconvinced of the promise of 5G, according to a new IDC report on behalf of Twilio, a US company specializing in unified communications through a cloud platform. This study also finds that they are also concerned about managing IoT costs to support these projects.

Ericsson expects the number of cellular IoT connections to grow from 1.6 billion in 2020 to 5.4 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of 23%. But what about 5G in these different uses? To get an accurate picture, IDC conducted a survey in January of 1,000 IoT decision-makers about current deployments as well as their plans. Respondents were in the US, UK, and Germany, in companies ranging in size from 5,000+ employees (20%) to less than 500 (29%). Companies from the healthcare, manufacturing, government, retail, utilities, and transportation sectors are represented in the survey. As a result, the majority (79%) of IDC respondents plan to use 4G for cellular IoT deployments, with only 9% making the jump to 5G. This survey also notes that POCs also take twice as long as companies expected: 12 months versus six. Professionals in the survey cited these three challenges that slow down cellular IoT projects: Lack of visibility into national and global device deployments and usage The ordering and shipping of SIM cards and modules within the time allowed The inability to try SIM cards during the evaluation process. Cost is another pain point for cellular IoT projects, with 65% of companies saying they pay for overage and unused data. Managing multiple cellular carriers and associated billing complexities is also a significant issue. Other brake risks related to the IoT are still little apprehended. but Oracle’s report, titled “5 Best Practices of Leading IoT Adopters”, states that enterprises adopting IoT are “increasingly demanding an easy path to IoT capabilities that which makes it possible to obtain value more quickly”. This report is based on a survey conducted with Transforma Insights of 800 people with an advisory or decision-making role in the deployment of IoT in a company with at least 500 employees (1,000 in the United States) and in several countries including France. The key finding, 75% of professionals surveyed want connectivity to be integrated or bundled by the solution vendor, and 70% want vendors to include data and analytics tools as part of a comprehensive solution. Shorter lead times Off-the-shelf commercial products accelerate deployments. Deployment times for commercial solutions average 8.5 months, compared to an industry average of around 11 months, suggesting that the increasing use of standardized solutions is accelerating time to market. Public Safety/Government (51%) and Utilities (45%) have the shortest timelines, aiming for IoT deployment within six months. These projects are moving from internal, non-core projects to the core, customer-focused programs. As proof, nearly 90% of them were described by respondents as “ fundamental ” or “ very important ” for their main activity, and just over half of the projects are visible to their customers. The main consequence of this prioritization of IoT, the cost is ranked as the most important aspect to manage by the healthcare (58%) and enterprise IT (59%) sectors. Deployment of the solution is highest for utilities (61%), public safety, and government (60%). According to this study, industrial standards will guide the design of solutions. Almost all respondents (85%) have requirements, whether regulatory or based on a desire to conform to standard business practices, regarding compliance with standard data formats. This requirement is particularly important for industries such as healthcare (71%) and utilities (61%), which reported stringent regulatory compliance and security requirements (not yet well understood). Even in projects where the standards are less rigid, such as enterprise IT, 45% still have strict regulatory compliance requirements