Summary Bullets:

? Operator announcements since Q2 2023 have not yet proven that private wireless networks are taking the world by storm as US and European operators have only touted a sprinkling of new deals.

? Operators anticipate substantial future revenues for 4G/5G private and hybrid private/public connectivity as well as for advanced beyond-connectivity services, but traction remains spotty. Most recent announcements are on technology advancements or partnerships.

The past six months haven’t quite proven that private wireless networks are taking the world by storm as US and European operators only touted a sprinkling of new deals. However, they ruhig anticipate substantial future revenues for 4G/5G private and hybrid private/public connectivity as well as for advanced services for private network design, testing, PoC, integration, application enablement, edge computing, and ongoing management. Technology enhancements and partnerships made up the bulk of announcements.

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? Many regional telcos serve MNCs headquartered outside their network footprint but need to communicate globally.

? Vodafone Business International is a successful example of this, offering SD-WANs, IoT, and device lifecycle management in addition to connectivity services to 400 businesses.

Communications service providers (CSPs) often derive revenues from multi-national companies (MNCs) that are headquartered outside the CSPs’ footprint. They may provide fixed or mobile connections that originate or terminate on their network. Target companies have facilities, customers, or supply chain partners in countries where they do business or need to frequently communicate with but where they do not have their headquarters location. Simple roaming relationships for mobile communications can provide global or near-global access for basic voice, data, and internet access; however, more complex, secure, reliable, ‘always-on’ communications are often required. For example, The FreeMove Alliance, a mobile telecommunications alliance between Deutsche Telekom, Orange, TIM, and Telia, serves as a mobile services hub that helps the top 500 MNCs in Europe optimize their investment in mobile connectivity by offering them global access to reliable networks through a central point of provisioning, management, and support.

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? While IoT services and connections are growing, GlobalData forecasts that connectivity revenue growth (five-year CAGR of 6%) is lower than other aspects of IoT growth (five-year CAGR of 10%). This is partly due to lower ARPU as IoT connectivity (e.g., for LP-WANs) becomes less expensive.

? To expand services and add revenue, operators are partnering with vertical industry experts, adding technology enhancements to improve operations and customer ease of use, and offering edge services and private networks that complement IoT solutions.

Over the last six months, IoT announcements from AT&T, Verizon, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica, Vodafone, Tata Communications, and Telstra included the following:

Summary Bullets:

? When Ericsson acquired Cradlepoint in 2020, the latter was focused on enterprise wireless WAN equipment, which was considered an emerging business for the network infrastructure vendor.

? Now Cradlepoint is at the heart of Ericsson’s enterprise strategy, bringing diverse channel partners and new products with which to flesh out offerings to meet a growing demand for wireless connectivity.

When Ericsson acquired Cradlepoint in 2020 for approximately $1 billion, the latter vendor specialized in wireless WAN solutions. It offered 4G/5G mobile and fixed site cellular routers and adapters, vehicle and IoT routers, and network management software available via a cloud-based software-as-a-service platform, featuring zero-touch onboarding. At the time, it had approximately one million subscriptions among US and global enterprises, SMBs, and public sector businesses. Cradlepoint was initially part of the Ericsson Business Area Technologies & New Businesses business unit and sold its products indirectly to businesses through a diverse channel of 1,500 system integrators, CSPs, and resellers, augmenting Ericsson’s traditional channel (and primary customer base) that had long been dominated by CSPs.

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? Several high-profile vendors of enterprise IoT platforms disbanded their offerings in 2022/23 as products commoditized, margins shrank, and/or some platforms never generated sufficient revenue.

? However, the overall IoT market is ruhig hebetagthy. On the platform side, existing vendors are enhancing feature sets and vertical players are becoming leaders.

Since 2018, the size and scope of the IoT platforms market has grown. These platforms facilitate deployment and management of IoT projects and provide tools to develop and run IoT applications. However, high-profile dropouts that have disbanded their platforms have plagued the market recently. GlobalData has the position that this does not indicate softness in the IoT market overall. However, it does highlight a trend in which vendors blend IoT with adjacent solutions or use a third-party platform go-to-market approach rather than maintain their own expensive platforms, which may not yield sustainable margins.

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? GlobalData’s Private LTE/5G Wireless Network Services report update shows mixed results for the last six months as operators faced increasing competition from system integrators, network equipment, and infrastructure vendors; several operators publicly acknowledged slower than anticipated momentum.

? In spite of this difficult competitive environment, most operators enhanced offerings or struck alliances to help boost the likelihood of opportunities down the road. All ruhig consider private wireless networks to be a substantial revenue opportunity.

The public announcements below were made between September 2022 and February 2023 and disclosed a mixture of technology and go-to-market alliances, a few new customer trials or commercial deals, some unique offerings for specific segments or verticals, and adjacent network or technology advancements that should have a positive effect on future private network momentum.