The cellular IoT market is entering a new growth phase as enterprises increasingly connect machines, vehicles, sensors, and industrial assets over 4G and 5G networks. According to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, global cellular IoT connections reached approximately 4.3 billion in 2025, with broadband IoT (4G/5G) becoming the largest segment while massive IoT technologies such as NB-IoT and LTE-M continue to expand rapidly. The commercial rollout of 5G Standalone networks is expected to accelerate adoption of next-generation IoT services requiring lower latency, network slicing, and improved energy efficiency.
The commercialization of 3GPP Release 17 and the industry’s transition toward Release 18 (5G Advanced) are creating new opportunities for eRedCap deployments. Compared with traditional RedCap, eRedCap reduces device complexity, power consumption, and module costs, making it suitable for wearables, industrial sensors, smart cameras, logistics tracking, healthcare devices, and consumer IoT products. Lower-cost chipsets and expanding availability of 5G Standalone networks are expected to accelerate ecosystem development over the next several years.
Industry analysts also expect LTE Cat-1 bis to remain one of the fastest-growing technologies for mid-tier IoT applications. The technology offers an attractive balance between cost, coverage, battery life, and performance, making it increasingly popular for payment terminals, asset tracking, smart meters, logistics devices, retail systems, and industrial monitoring applications where full 5G capability is not required.
China continues to dominate the global cellular IoT ecosystem through large-scale deployments of smart meters, industrial automation, connected manufacturing, logistics, and smart city infrastructure. The region’s leadership is further supported by strong government investment in digital infrastructure, rapid expansion of 5G Standalone networks, and one of the world’s largest ecosystems of IoT module manufacturers and chipset suppliers.
Governments are increasingly integrating cellular IoT into national digital infrastructure programs. Investments in smart utilities, intelligent transportation systems, renewable energy management, water infrastructure, and public safety networks are creating sustained demand for secure, low-power IoT connectivity. At the same time, cybersecurity regulations in Europe, North America, and Asia are encouraging wider adoption of secure SIM technologies, remote provisioning, device authentication, and lifecycle management solutions.
Automotive manufacturers are rapidly transitioning toward software-defined vehicles that rely on continuous cellular connectivity throughout the vehicle lifecycle. Beyond infotainment and navigation, connected vehicles increasingly support predictive maintenance, remote diagnostics, fleet management, insurance telematics, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), over-the-air software updates, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications. These applications are expected to become major drivers of 5G automotive module demand during the coming decade.
The emergence of 5G Advanced is expected to further expand the addressable market for cellular IoT by introducing enhanced support for artificial intelligence, integrated sensing, deterministic networking, lower-power devices, and improved uplink performance. Combined with edge computing and AI-powered analytics, next-generation cellular IoT platforms will enable intelligent automation across manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, utilities, agriculture, logistics, and smart city deployments.
Outlook
Omdia forecasts that global cellular IoT connections will reach 5.9 billion by 2035, with NB-IoT, mMTC, and eRedCap accounting for 65 percent of all connections. The automotive sector alone is expected to exceed 1 billion cellular IoT connections, with 89 percent of automotive modules using 5G technologies. As operators expand 5G Standalone networks and the industry transitions toward 5G Advanced, enterprises will gain access to more cost-effective, energy-efficient, and intelligent connectivity solutions. Combined with AI, edge computing, and growing investments in digital infrastructure, cellular IoT is expected to become a foundational technology for connected industries, software-defined vehicles, smart cities, utilities, healthcare, logistics, and industrial automation throughout the next decade.
FASNA SHABEER
