The total number of global cellular M2M connections will reach 1.3 billion by 2022, with emerging cellular networks - including LTE-M and 5G - growing to account for an estimated 10% of all cellular M2M connections.
This is according to a new report from Juniper Research titled, M2M: Key Verticals, Technology Analysis & Forecasts 2018-2022. The study further indicates that the forecast is a 220% increase from an estimated 400 million in 2017.
"Operators are now racing to provide the underlying connectivity for the future high growth of connections, spurred on by the enabled emerging use cases. Industries such as smart city development, agriculture and smart meters will see high growth in terms of cellular M2M connections over the next four years," stated the report.
For Africa, a separate report - the 2017 GSMA Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa report - predicted that there will be 26 million m2m connections by 2020 in the region.
The report further states that 5G technology will be essential in handling the increasing data traffic generated from devices. The report further found that services such as traffic information and citizen gateways will generate over 160 Petabytes of data traffic per annum in 2022; in comparison, connected cars will generate over 7 000 Petabytes of data. "Transforming network architecture would become key to delivering the level of smart city services that have come to be expected."
Notably, South African mobile operators have been investing profoundly into extending network coverage to fast-track the migration to high-speed mobile broadband networks. Last year, Vodacom in partnership with Nokia announced that it will be trailing the country's first high-speed 5G Internet service while MTN and Ericsson also announced, earlier this year, their own 5G technology and applications trial in Africa.
According to Sudhir Juggernath, head of Orange Applications for Business - Africa, an estimated 17 out of 54 African countries have already rolled-out LTE networks indicating that the technology infrastructure path has been paved for 5G. "The technology will push countries - particularly SA - forward in terms of connectivity and technological innovations. It will meet the needs of a wide range of South African sectors through a single network that can adapt to suit demands. It will provide better overall performance than previous technologies and enable increased efficiency," he said.
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