IoT - Impact on Mobile Networks

IoT is poised to revolutionize industries and ways we live and work. These things will digitally connect to other devices and the network via multiple technologies. MNOs are making significant investments in M2M communications for providing connectivity as well as value added services to IoT application providers and enterprises. However, growing numbers of connected devices creates challenges for the underlying mobile network. We present our exclusive analysis in dimensioning growth of M2M/IoT and examine ways this will impact Mobile Networks, including use cases across multiple consumer segments and industry verticals. Based on these insights, we quantify the impact on LTE RAN and Core Network in terms of additional spectrum required, incremental load on signalling capacity of the network and conclude with how 5G networks should be designed for efficient wide-area M2M communications.