Report:

Magic Quadrant for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide

Top Vendor Products for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide in 2024

• AT&T
• Deutsche Telekom
• KORE
• Orange Business
• Telefónica
• Vodafone

Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide Vendor Product Comparisons 2024

• 1NCE - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • 1NCE is invested by Tier 1 telcos Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank, which are using 1NCE for their SMB offering across different markets. 1NCE is using these investments to expand geographically across the U.S, Asia/Pacific and Latin America, apart from its home European region.
  • 1NCE reported 3.25 million 3GPP LPWA network connections, which is a 117% increase over 2022. Two-thirds of the connections are narrowband (NB)-IoT.
  • 1NCE demonstrated increased sales performance with SMBs and through its digital channels, attributed to its 1NCE Lifetime Flat offering — 10 years for $10/€10 with up to 500 MB data and 500 SMS volume with a prepaid renewal structure. Additional value-added services launched under 1NCE OS are included in the price.

  Cons:

  • 1NCE's limited network partnerships and focus on low-bandwidth applications raise concerns about its ability to handle large-scale deployments with high data volume requirements. This may limit its appeal for large enterprises and projects requiring significant scalability.
  • 1NCE is highly dependent on a few network agreements with Deutsche Telekom in Europe, T-Mobile in the U.S., SoftBank and China Telecom in the Asia/Pacific region, and Claro in Brazil. In Asia/Pacific, 1NCE has localized International Mobile Subscriber Identities (IMSIs) for Brazil, China, Japan, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
  • 1NCE doesn't have an E2E industry vertical strategy for IoT and applies its connectivity horizontally to any vertical having more success in B2C portals in automotive and utilities.


• Aeris Communications - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • Aeris' acquisition has significantly increased its worldwide presence with sales and support. It has also added Ericsson's IoT core network to its infrastructure, which is now integrated with 31 MNOs worldwide, bringing more than 16 million eSIMs under management, most of them indirect through MNOs.
  • Aeris Mobility Suite (AMS) provides automakers with end-to-end functionality for both horizontal infrastructure and vertical-specific application features and vendor integrations. Ericsson's Connected Vehicle Cloud complements the AMS offering for further scale and expansion with 24 million vehicles.
  • The Aeris API One platform enables independent software vendors to develop solutions that can be leveraged across multiple automotive OEM platforms. This eliminates the need to integrate with multiple connected platforms and creates a vehicle ecosystem allowing data monetization for OEMs.

  Cons:

  • Most connections acquired from Ericsson are managed by MNOs that Aeris serves as a platform provider. This Magic Quadrant is mainly focused on IoT connections managed directly from the vendor. IoT connections managed by third parties, where the vendor acts as a platform provider or indirect channel with no direct relationship with clients, have less weight in the execution assessment of this Magic Quadrant.
  • Aeris' business is now unbalanced between the IoT connectivity management platform (main business) and the managed IoT connectivity services business (quite lower compared to the acquired business). Due to this, enterprises approaching Aeris' need to be cautious as the vendor's enterprise future focus for managed IoT connectivity services could be significantly less than in previous years.
  • Aeris will be integrating its different IoT connectivity platforms and assets, so customers should ensure roadmap availability for the current and future integrated platforms. They should also consider the continuity and quality of the operations and customer services during an expected transition period.


• AT&T - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Compared with other vendors in this Magic Quadrant, AT&T has the most connections for connected cars, as indicated by its expanding fleet of connected vehicles outside of its North America networks (mainly in Western Europe).
  • AT&T has added three new data centers in the U.S. to improve latency aligned with a reinforced vertical focus beyond automotive, including healthcare, fleet and asset management, retail, manufacturing, government and utilities. It also added new connected spaces and infrastructure solutions to its connected healthcare and assets offering.
  • AT&T provides an extensive portfolio of security services for IoT in comparison to most vendors in this Magic Quadrant.

  Cons:

  • AT&T's limited installed base of managed IoT connectivity customers outside of North America remains a concern for large MNCs.
  • AT&T does not offer a bring-your-own connectivity product strategy that includes a composable managed IoT connectivity platform for localizing profiles beyond permanent roaming scenarios.
  • AT&T has only a few wins of enterprises headquartered in Europe with connections localized in the region where the U.S. is a secondary region in the deal.


• Cubic Telecom - Challenger
  

  Pros:

  • Cubic Telecom's strength is in automotive and other connected vehicles across verticals like agriculture. Cubic Telecom is agnostic to connectivity providers, allowing automotive OEMs to select the best connectivity provider and integrate it into a single pane of glass through Cubic Telecom's IoT connectivity management platform called PACE.
  • Cubic Telecom operates its own core network, for which it has local breakouts across all regions. Cubic Telecom has localized profiles in eight countries across four regions that are integrated through eSIM with more than one million profiles.
  • In addition to PACE, PLXOR product for data traffic, and INSIGHTS for enhanced analytics and reporting, Cubic Telecom has launched three new solutions for automotive. Home Streaming focuses on B2C streaming of local content, Asset Hero is for supply chain asset tracking and Asset Banker is for reducing manual audits of dealer finance stock.

  Cons:

  • Cubic Telecom manages mainly 4G-cellular-based IoT connections. It is focused on higher-bandwidth, high-volume use cases and does not have any strategy for supporting NB-IoT. Cubic Telecom has not reported any LPWA connections, although LTE-M is supported in a few automotive OEMs in Europe. It has not reported any 5G connections, although its network supports 5G NSA.
  • Beyond automotive or a small number of industrial or agro-vehicles, Cubic Telecom hasn't reported connections for any other use cases. Future vendor strategy includes expanding into other types of high-value assets, but Cubic Telecom has yet to demonstrate proof of product evolution or execution at scale.
  • Cubic Telecom has a reduced number of customers, mainly automotive OEMs with fleets in the range of 1 million IoT connections on average. Enterprises with smaller fleets may be beyond the vendor's focus, although Cubic Telecom's standard express product addresses the market of OEMs with more than 5,000 devices including automotive.


• Deutsche Telekom - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Compared with other vendors in this research, Deutsche Telekom has a significant joint presence in North America and Europe controlling its local networks, which makes its managed IoT connectivity services more competitive when bundled with connectivity. This footprint makes the vendor particularly attractive for automotive OEMs, which is driving main T IoT growth, although other industries have also grown at double digits YoY.
  • T IoT Hub has become the one-stop shop for Deutsche Telekom IoT solutions and has integrated nine IoT connectivity management platforms, including satellite connectivity. In 2023, T IoT Hub added an IoT Store with different solutions like inventory management, track and trace, or building management, which includes hardware, connectivity and cloud provisioning features.
  • Deutsche Telekom's investment in 1NCE allows it to provide a flexible model to multinationals that combines its own network capabilities with the flexibility of an IoT MVNO. This is a capability that most Tier 1 CSPs Leaders in this Magic Quadrant do not have.

  Cons:

  • Deutsche Telekom's growth in the U.S. (T IoT and T-Mobile local operations) is still challenged by the CDMA sunset and the focus of T-Mobile U.S.'s strategy on FWA over IoT. Deutsche Telekom doesn't have any significant connection base in the Asia/Pacific region, Middle East and Africa.
  • Most of Deutsche Telekom's value-added IoT solutions, across verticals, are mainly available in Europe and not in North America.
  • Deutsche Telecom's T Digital offering, combining enhancing T IoT capabilities with security and digital applications, is only available in Europe.


• Eseye - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • Eseye focuses more on bring-your-own connectivity scenarios for enterprises than other vendors in this Magic Quadrant, through the AnyNet Federation program. This program already includes 16 direct, localized MNO interconnect agreements managed by its Infinity platform, including commercial and technical integration for local connectivity.
  • Device intelligence encompasses Eseye's own hardware and software portfolio, and offers professional services for device hardware design, optimization, certification and deployment. Eseye launched SMARTconnect as a portable software module that can be integrated into customer devices to intelligently select device-to-cloud connectivity.
  • Eseye is a pioneer of integrating IoT connectivity into the cloud, through zero-touch provisioning processes reinforced by its device hardware capabilities.

  Cons:

  • Eseye's agreement with MTN brings the most new IoT connections for Eseye. MTN manages these connections, with Eseye serving as an IoT connectivity platform provider. However, IoT connections managed by third parties, with the vendor acting as a platform provider or indirect channel with no direct relationship with clients, have less weight in the execution assessment of this Magic Quadrant.
  • Eseye's YoY connection growth is unbalanced between the IoT connectivity management platform and the managed IoT connectivity services business. Enterprises approaching Eseye need to be cautious as the vendor's enterprise focus for managed IoT connectivity services may be less than in previous years.
  • Eseye has a limited installed base in the Asia/Pacific region, and has a relatively small presence in Latin America outside of Brazil. Users considering Eseye must work to understand how connectivity and related managed services are delivered within those regions when searching for a global IoT connectivity provider.


• Itron - Challenger
  

  Pros:

  • Gartner Peer Insights reviews indicate that Itron continues to demonstrate strong customer satisfaction in its vertical focus on municipal governments, mainly for smart lighting and various utilities-centric technology and business outcomes.
  • Itron's deepest and strongest value lies in its expertise and experience in managing energy, gas, water, and streetlight usage and devices across residential, commercial and industrial customers in North America, Europe, the Asia/Pacific region and Latin America.
  • Itron's network platform evolution includes scalability optimization and has been bolstered by more advanced security features such as multifactor authentication, end-to-end encryption and vulnerability management improvements.

  Cons:

  • Itron's growth comes mainly from Wi-SUN mesh connections. 3GPP LPWA network growth is more than 500,000 connections, with most of them LTE-M, which is low for a company focused mainly on the utility sector. Overall, Itron has decreased YoY cellular connections under management.
  • Itron does not effectively sell to and enable its customers with products for IoT cellular devices, SIM and system subscription management. Itron's portfolio does, however, show some milestones regarding multicarrier connectivity services, 5G ready services and public-to-private cellular transition enablement in the next two years.
  • Enterprises outside of utilities, smart lighting and other smart city use cases may not find Itron's level of focus on managed IoT connectivity attractive. Itron's portfolio evolution during the past year has been mainly focused on value-added solutions for the utilities sector.


• KORE - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • KORE's ability to provide life cycle management services directly for its large catalog of certified and tested IoT connectivity modules and devices is market-leading, especially for the healthcare industry, including regulation and compliance in the U.S. and Europe.
  • KORE's IoT connectivity installed base is well-distributed across different IoT industries, and with Twilio's IoT business acquisition, this is expanding API integration for managed IoT connectivity across any industry and across any region.
  • KORE is among the vendors evaluated in this Magic Quadrant with notable brand recognition for managed IoT connectivity services across North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.

  Cons:

  • Organizations considering KORE for a global IoT connectivity provider should examine how connectivity and related managed services are delivered within its limited installed base in the Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pacific regions.
  • KORE's managed IoT connectivity has a limited installed base for data and device management, and analytics and visualization. Device management capabilities are mainly focused on the healthcare industry.
  • KORE's limited eSIM installed base indicates that it may not provide organizations IoT connectivity localization capabilities at scale.


• NTT - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • NTT provides composable managed IoT connectivity platform capabilities through its IoT Connect Gateway platform to increase flexibility to enterprises with bring-your-own-connectivity (BYO) scenarios, although the portal is still in an early phase. This adds BYO capabilities to the existing flexibility that its Transatel brand offers as an IoT MVNO.
  • NTT has a higher presence of IoT connections in the Asia/Pacific region, mainly in Japan, compared to most vendors in this Magic Quadrant.
  • NTT is increasing its presence in Europe, particularly in automotive deals where its differentiating capabilities are based on NTT DATA's end-to-end consulting and integration services, flexibility for customization and expanding presence for ad hoc big projects.

  Cons:

  • NTT's global IoT organization for sales, marketing and service delivery for managed IoT connectivity services is still integrating Transatel's IoT capabilities across NTT Data's global footprint. The in-progress integration may appear to be a limitation for buyers identifying the appropriate NTT teams from which to purchase managed IoT connectivity services.
  • NTT's limited installed base of managed IoT connectivity customers outside of the Asia/Pacific region, as a percentage of its overall IoT connectivity business, remains a concern for large MNCs, although NTT has reported healthy growth in Europe.
  • NTT has reported no connections regarding NB-IoT, as the vendor's focus for the future regarding 3GPP LPWAN is only LTE-M and not NB-IoT. However, it is one of the three vendors in this Magic Quadrant with significant LoRa WAN connections.


• Orange Business - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Orange Business is reinforcing its presence in the automotive sector in Europe with demonstrated ability to attract U.S. and APAC-based customers, including increasing presence in those two regions. With its Internet On the Move offering, the B2C and B2B2C portal for automakers across Europe, Orange Business guarantees compliance with the EU regulation.
  • Orange Business continues its partnership activities to increase its relevance in IT/OT integration. With its cybersecurity, 4G/5G private mobile network (PMN) and edge computing offerings in Europe, it's becoming an attractive end-to-end solution provider for Industrie 4.0 use cases.
  • Orange Business has a strong ecosystem of multicountry strategic partnerships with companies such as Siemens (for IT/OT integration), Ericsson, Quectel, Cavli, KDDI, China Telecom, AWS, Google and Microsoft.

  Cons:

  • Despite its global presence and capabilities, most of Orange Business' IoT connections are still in Europe. Its presence in the Middle East, Africa and the Asia/Pacific region is growing from a low level, and is growing in North America from an even smaller base. This could mean its competitive attractiveness for global deals is smaller than that of many other Leaders in this Magic Quadrant.
  • Orange Business is not deploying a BYO connectivity product strategy for localizing profiles beyond permanent roaming scenarios. Customers requesting these options are served on a project-by-project basis.
  • Orange Business deployments that integrate connectivity, access to cloud and device management under IoT Connect Express are based on its proprietary Malima platform. As of today, this platform has only been implemented on the Orange Business footprint.


• Telefónica - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Telefónica continues its focus on AI, delivered through the Kite platform's dashboards powered by machine learning. AI also appears in end-to-end projects with Telefónica's own resources or in combination with a vertically focused partner (e.g., telematics solution provider Geotab), where Telefónica adds a proprietary analytics solution.
  • Telefónica is providing end-to-end solutions for LPWA networks that include hardware, connectivity, applications, consulting and integration capabilities for utilities, agriculture and smart lighting.
  • Telefónica is actively testing 5G and edge computing through multiple proofs of concept (POCs) and client wins mainly in Spain, Germany and Latin America. In Spain, Telefónica's Geprom acquisition is reinforcing industrial OT capabilities, although its edge proposition only applies to discrete projects.

  Cons:

  • Telefónica reported limited managed connections in the Asia/Pacific region and the Middle East and Africa, where it works with local partners to serve managed connectivity. Telefonica's presence in North America is only 4% of its overall installed base, showing limited progress in its overall IoT connection growth outside of Europe and Latin America.
  • Telefónica has shown only one-off initiatives for serving bring-your-own connectivity scenarios out of its home countries, providing local connectivity as an alternative to roaming at scale. It has eight localized profiles in Asia/Pacific but hasn't reported significant growth in the region.
  • Although Telefónica has shown progress in LPWAs, most of its connections are NB-IoT and are based in Spain.


• Telenor Group - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • IoT Complete is a fully integrated device-to-cloud service that replaces IoT Cloud and is running natively on AWS. It includes hardware (precertified Telenor stand-alone or embedded devices), firmware design (compatible with most industrial protocols) and FOTA, IoT connectivity, monitoring and device management, Cloud Bridge for cloud access configuration, secure remote access, configurable applications, APIs and SLAs.
  • Telenor has increased local support in North America and the Asia/Pacific region, particularly in China, Korea and Japan, with local resources supporting local languages.
  • Telenor is increasingly opening its offering to BYO connectivity scenarios using localized profiles through its Orchestration portal that runs on top of Aeris IoT Accelerator and other CMPs, although the first deployments are to solve permanent roaming issues. This is an API-driven portal with life cycle management and eSIM integration.

  Cons:

  • When compared with other vendors in this Magic Quadrant, Telenor shows the lowest YoY growth, apart from Verizon.
  • Telenor's connections are mainly in Europe, and they represent most of its overall installed base, followed by the Asia/Pacific region.
  • Telenor's strategies for SMBs, value-added services like private 5G or end-to-end applications are mainly focused on the markets where it owns the networks (in the Nordics and Asia/Pacific countries for SMBs and the Nordics for advanced private 4G/5G solutions).


• Telit Cinterion - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • Telit Cinterion is among the vendors evaluated in this Magic Quadrant with notable brand recognition for managed IoT connectivity services across North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific.
  • Telit Cinterion, among other vendors in this Magic Quadrant, has shown significant net growth distributed across at least three regions since the previous iteration of this research. Telit Cinterion's main YoY growth was 40% in North America and 51% in Europe. In 2023, Telit Cinterion expanded its reach by establishing a core network in Brazil that became its third core network after Europe and the U.S.
  • Telit Cinterion's broad catalog of communications modules has been further improved with the recently completed acquisition of Thales' Cinterion IoT business. The acquisition has also resulted in an improved cellular IoT estate, resulting in one of the larger 5G device counts among competitors. Mobilogix has been placed under the solution's business unit of Telit Cinterion to reinforce device design and manufacturing for enterprises.

  Cons:

  • Organizations considering Telit Cinterion's services should consider that its focus for managed IoT connectivity services is smaller than its focus on hardware within the overall Telit Cinterion business.
  • Telit Cinterion's managed IoT connectivity capabilities may be reduced when not using Telit Cinterion's hardware modules.
  • Telit Cinterion primarily focuses on Tier 1 and Tier 2 MNOs, which may lead to coverage gaps in certain regions compared to competitors with broader partnerships with Tier 3 and regional operators. This can be a concern for projects requiring seamless connectivity across diverse geographic locations.


• Verizon - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • Verizon expands its revenue and impact beyond connectivity through the sale of IoT applications for telematics, automotive, transportation and utilities that it acquired or developed. Verizon's solutions for asset tracking, logistics and condition-based monitoring for industrial enterprises also show growth.
  • Verizon is one of the leaders in terms of successfully creating LPWA network solutions based on LTE-M connectivity. 2023 saw 20% growth in LPWA devices for Verizon, which was localized in the U.S.
  • Verizon is one of a handful of IoT connectivity service providers to report experience in delivering managed IoT connections based on 5G/4G private mobile network services and edge computing. This experience includes winning projects in the U.S. and Europe, and having one of the largest 4G device estates.

  Cons:

  • Verizon lost market share over the last year due to the retirement of CDMA connections. Most of those connections were in vehicles still on the road and impossible to upgrade. Verizon's 7% YoY growth in 4G was not enough to compensate for this loss, compared with the 19% increase in 4G from the previous Magic Quadrant. In absolute figures, Verizon has one of the largest 4G device estates of all participants in this Magic Quadrant.
  • Verizon's installed base is not geographically diverse, and it continues to face challenges growing its managed IoT connections outside of the U.S. with a modest increase of devices YoY. Verizon is making efforts to localize SIM profiles in Europe and other regions with orchestration capabilities, and although it has acquired early customers, Verizon hasn't yet translated to significant growth in those regions.
  • Verizon's operations and support for IoT outside the U.S. may concern organizations looking for experience and expertise in multisourcing service integration. This could limit opportunities for enterprises seeking their connectivity provider to act as a broker on their behalf for product and service management with third-party providers.


• Vodafone - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Vodafone has not only the most IoT connections of the vendors evaluated in this Magic Quadrant, but also the most regionally diverse growth rate in connections.
  • Vodafone has shown the biggest increase in LPWA network connections compared with all vendors in this Magic Quadrant, adding 13 million connections in the utilities and healthcare industries and based in countries where Vodafone has local operating companies.
  • Vodafone is one of a few IoT connectivity service providers to report experience in delivering managed IoT connections based on 5G/4G private mobile network services, including winning projects out of its home countries.

  Cons:

  • Vodafone has improved its SMB offering, but it's still only available through certain local operating companies in Europe.
  • Vodafone is reducing sales and operation support full-time equivalents (FTEs) worldwide, mainly in Europe and the MEA region.
  • Vodafone's GDSP managed IoT connectivity platform doesn't include a bring-your-own connectivity strategy as it offers roaming for countries with no permanent roaming restrictions. Vodafone is addressing localization of connectivity based on discrete project requirements, mainly for automotive.


• Wireless Logic - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • Wireless Logic managed approximately 4 million eSIMs, a 33% increase from 2022. Wireless Logic has integrated more than 400 MNOs with its mobile core network (Conexa), and 85% of its connections use two or more MNOs.
  • Wireless Logic is among the vendors in this Magic Quadrant with a more diverse and strong relevant presence across multiple industry verticals. The IoThink Solutions acquisition strengthened Wireless Logic E2E IoT capabilities beyond managed IoT connectivity services with an industrial IoT platform targeting SIs, OEMs and enterprises in industrial, building, energy, transportation and retail.
  • The vendor provides advanced OTA automation for multi-IMSI, eSIM, and iSIM and is at the forefront of remote SIM provisioning (RSP) deploying the SGP.32 standard. It also supports SGP.02 and SGP.22 standards.

  Cons:

  • Wireless Logic had the fourth lowest managed IoT connections growth YoY of 2.1 million devices reported ending in June 2023.
  • Wireless Logic's commercial presence outside of Europe is unbalanced compared to Europe, although it has increased capabilities in Asia/Pacific and the U.S.
  • Wireless Logic has acquired several companies during the past two years to reinforce its capabilities and go to market. However, this may represent some challenges in terms of integration of capabilities, and also presents a potential challenge to buyers in terms of identifying the right Wireless Logic company from which to purchase managed IoT connectivity services.

Reference

• Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide, 12 February 2024, ID G00786935

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