5G, eSIM now a must for IoT enterprises

Embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) technology launched over a decade ago. While it did not enjoy the success that many predicted for it as a disruptor of the comms and telecoms sector, that success was eventually realised by the internet of things (IoT).

Yet over the past 12 months or so, both the IoT and eSIM industries have seen huge growth and uptake by the leading firms in the sector. According to research from analyst Omdia, this growth will be sustained now that both are firmly entrenched within enterprises.

The Omdia internet of things enterprise survey analysed the views of 506 IoT enterprises. It found that IoT deployments play a vital role in many enterprises’ digital transformation strategies, yielding benefits such as productivity gains, costs savings and achieving environmental sustainability goals. As a result, enterprises were continuing to increase their spending on IoT solutions and are broadly expanding deployments.

Omdia’s survey results revealed enterprises are deploying, or are in the process of rolling out, IoT solutions, and that 95% of respondents expect to see measurable benefits from IoT within two years of deployment.   The results also showed that that while LTE (4G) remains a popular connectivity bearer, over 70% of enterprises were planning to use 5G connectivity.

Meanwhile, eSIM and the associated iSIM technology have or will be adopted by nearly 90% of enterprises over the next two years. This technology will enable enterprises to better manage costs and allow them to renegotiate future connectivity tariffs.

Looking towards the future, Omdia noted that the survey results show very positive growth in the deployment of IoT solutions, suggesting a positive knock-on effect for players across the IoT value chain – however, there will be increased competition. Enterprises are increasingly reliant on vendors and partners, given that deploying IoT solutions is often complex and requires a diverse array of skills to succeed. Many enterprises cited internally obtaining the relevant resources and skills as a major hurdle.

“While some tech giants have scaled back their IoT efforts, enterprises are embracing IoT and seeing remarkable results,” said John Canali, IoT principal analyst at Omdia and author of the report. “In fact, enterprises are very forward looking in incorporating new technologies like 5G, fixed wireless access [FWA], and eSIM/iSIM technology.”

“Our survey suggests that there are a multitude of opportunities ranging from hardware, software, connectivity and services,” added Andrew Brown, IoT practice lead at Omdia.

“However, security remains at the forefront of enterprise concerns, and vendors must be able to not only offer secure products and services, but also be able to effectively integrate into broader solutions. Vendors that fail to deliver secure solutions will find themselves locked out of this growing market.”