One way of illustrating the impact of internet of things on public network demand and revenues is to note how many IoT devices already are in use, and how relatively slight the revenue uplift has been. Simply, there may already be five times as many IoT devices in use as mobile phones, for example.
And it all those devices are generating extensive revenue, it has not been reported by mobile operators.
There are perhaps 6.2 billion connected human devices devices used by people in 2021, with possibly 4.3 billion to 4.4 billion using a direct mobile connection. Roughly two billion use indirect connections (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) that do not have a direct account associated with them.
There also are perhaps 34 billion connected internet of things devices in use in 2021, likely mostly using an indirect connection (Wi-Fi, another short-range communications protocol or Ethernet). Perhaps two billion of those devices are connected by mobile networks, according to Ericsson.
That points to a significant difference between human-used devices and IoT devices: most human-used devices will rely on a mobile account; most IoT devices likely will not.
Since the typical sensor connection generates far less revenue than a smartphone account, for example, that also implies that IoT connection revenue will provide less connection revenue uplift than might be expected. An IoT sensor might represent connectivity revenue two orders of magnitude less than a smartphone connection does, for example.
Volume will matter, but it is the average revenue per device and the prevalence of non-mobile connectivity and non-public-network connectivity that really matter more. Sensors and devices often will use a local untethered connection such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and not create immediate demand for a dedicated mobile or other public network connection.
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