The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly transforming industries and everyday life by connecting devices, applications, and users to share data insights and enable remote control. IoT connectivity serves as the vital link that facilitates seamless communication between devices and application servers, making the IoT concept a reality. This connectivity enables businesses to remotely access and manage data, insights, configuration, and control, regardless of the device’s function.

Various types of connectivity technologies can be used for IoT solutions, such as cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, and non-cellular Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). The selection of the appropriate technology depends on factors like data transfer rate, power consumption, range, geographic coverage, and cost-effectiveness. The ultimate goal is to connect devices to applications efficiently, providing the best service to customers.

Implementing IoT connectivity can offer numerous benefits for businesses, including enhanced data collection and insights, improved efficiency and productivity, remote monitoring and management, cost savings, enhanced customer experience, supply chain optimization, predictive maintenance, competitive advantage, scalability, flexibility, and new revenue streams. Embracing IoT connectivity can drive cost reduction efforts and contribute to sustainability goals.

Choosing cellular IoT connectivity offers several advantages, such as wide coverage, mobility, reliability, scalability, high data speeds, low-power options, global connectivity, built-in security features, carrier and SIM management capabilities, and comprehensive service support. While other connectivity technologies may be suitable in specific use cases, cellular IoT connectivity stands out as a compelling choice for various IoT solution deployments.

At Pelion, we are committed to providing open and honest consultation on the best connectivity solutions to meet your business’s unique requirements. Our managed Cellular IoT Connectivity offers extensive coverage, reliability, scalability, and high data speeds to cater to diverse business needs. With Pelion’s support, businesses can harness the potential of IoT connectivity to achieve desired outcomes with reliability, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness.

In conclusion, IoT connectivity presents a game-changing opportunity for businesses to unlock new possibilities, drive efficiency, and gain a competitive edge in their respective industries. As IoT adoption continues to grow, choosing the right connectivity solution, such as cellular IoT, can pave the way for businesses to thrive in the interconnected world of the Internet of Things.

An introduction to the Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the way we interact with technology and the world around us. It is a vast network of interconnected devices, objects, and sensors that communicate and exchange data over wireless networks and the internet. From smart homes and wearable gadgets to industrial automation and healthcare systems, IoT’s seamless integration empowers us with unprecedented efficiency, convenience, and insight. By enabling devices to collect, analyse, and act upon real-time data, IoT enhances everyday life, propels businesses forward, and fosters sustainable solutions. As this transformative technology continues to evolve, its potential to reshape industries and enhance connectivity remains boundless.

How can IoT solutions help your business?

Let’s start by stating categorically that IoT connectivity, as a component of an IoT deployment, can help your business. It can help your business in many ways. Every business has its own set of circumstances and needs which will play into how best to leverage the benefits of IoT connectivity. Thinking carefully about the outcomes you want to achieve and engaging with industry expertise, such as you will get from Pelion, will help you gain the best understanding of where IoT connectivity will benefit your business.

In the meantime, let’s consider some of the underpinning areas of benefit from deploying IoT solutions:

Cost Savings

IoT solutions can help reduce operational costs in various ways. By optimising energy consumption, predicting maintenance needs, and automating tasks, giving access to remote areas businesses can save on energy, maintenance, and labour costs.

Improved Efficiency and Productivity

IoT devices can gather vast amounts of data from various sources, such as sensors, machines, and customer interactions. This data can provide valuable insights into business operations, consumer behaviour, and product performance, enabling data-driven decision-making.

IoT connectivity allows the data to be transferred to the business from where it can be organised, and analysed to help to monitor and optimise their processes in real-time. By analysing data from IoT devices, companies can identify inefficiencies, streamline workflows, and automate tasks, leading to improved efficiency and productivity.

Remote Monitoring and Management

IoT connectivity enables remote monitoring and control of devices and assets. Businesses can monitor operations, equipment, and inventory from anywhere, leading to faster response times and reduced downtime.

Enhanced Customer Experience

IoT connectivity enables businesses to create personalized and seamless customer experiences. For example, in retail, IoT devices can facilitate personalized marketing, track customer preferences, and improve inventory management.

Supply Chain Optimisation

IoT connectivity allows businesses to track and manage their supply chains more efficiently. With real-time data on shipments, inventory levels, and demand, companies can optimize logistics and reduce inventory carrying costs.

Predictive Maintenance

IoT-enabled sensors can monitor the health and performance of equipment, predicting maintenance needs before failures occur. This predictive maintenance approach helps prevent costly downtime and extends the lifespan of assets.

Competitive Advantage

Embracing IoT connectivity can give businesses a competitive edge. Early adopters can differentiate themselves in the market, attract tech-savvy customers, and stay ahead of their competitors.

New Revenue Streams

IoT connectivity opens up opportunities for new business models and revenue streams. Companies can offer data-driven services, subscription-based offerings, or value-added services based on IoT-generated insights.

Ultimately, IoT is always about saving money or making money. Breaking that down, they key to the above benefits can be summarised by two key, overarching outcomes: The opportunity to reduce operating cost and the opportunity to increase revenues. As an added benefit, many of the cost reducing benefits tie directly into the strive for greater sustainability.

Working with an expert like Pelion, you can be guided to achieving your desired outcomes following the simplest path whilst also ensuring high levels of service reliability.

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What is IoT Connectivity?

The Internet of Things is both a concept and a growing reality. It’s the idea that any and every device that performs a function can be connected to each other, to application servers, and to users, to share data insights and enable remote control. The device in question could be a tiny sensor occasionally picking up small changes in specific measurable conditions, a meter recording electricity, gas or water flows, right up to a sophisticated edge compute device. What’s important is that whatever function the device performs, the data, insights, configuration and control can be accessed and managed remotely. This is where IoT connectivity comes in.

IoT connectivity is the critical piece between the device and the applications servers and users. It’s the wireless element that facilitates the sending and receiving of data insights, and the management and control of remote device functionality. Without wireless connectivity there is no Internet of Things.

The ultimate goal is to connect devices to applications efficiently, providing the best service to customers.

That said, the connectivity element is just the means to the end. It has to work, reliably, as a near invisible component that does not prevent the required outcomes of device and application working in unison.

What types of Connectivity can be used for IoT?

We’ve briefly discussed the fact connectivity is the mechanism to enable the flow of data and control between a device and its application, and that it must be simple and reliable.

So, what types of connectivity can be used for IoT solutions? Simply put, absolutely any connectivity technology can be used since the principle of IoT is to connect things to other things.

However, there are specific technologies that are ideally suited to IoT use cases.

You’ll be familiar with some of those from your everyday life. Others are specific to the world of IoT.

Cellular Networks

Offering a globally consistent connectivity experience, cellular enables a standardised deployment model across the complete deployed base of devices. Coupled with the inherent management and security this is perfect for large or complex solutions. Cellular provides connectivity solutions for 5G/4G/3G/2G devices, plus low power requirements via NB-IoT and LTE-M

WiFi

Widely used in localised deployments within the reach of a WiFi router. Many people will have a thermostat or video doorbell, connecting to the internet via your home WiFi which can be a managed via an app on your phone.

Bluetooth and BLE

Many, many devices connect to each other using Bluetooth. Your mobile phone, your wireless speaker, your car audio system and many others too. It’s a very widely supported technology. Easy to use and low cost, Bluetooth is limited to devices being in close proximity. While there are exceptions, most traditional Bluetooth devices have to be within less than 50 meters to work well. In IoT, a new type of Bluetooth is being deployed. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It’s a new standard of this type of connectivity and some of the devices supporting BLE have significantly longer ranges. Some claim up to 1 km. However, at 1km distance, most applications will find a significant reduction in data transfer capacity and lots of risk from interference. BLE is worth considering if your IoT application is within a small, confined geographical area and there is low amount of interference.

Non-cellular Low Power WAN

Technologies such as LoRa and Sigfox provide cost effective wide area connectivity for very low power and low bandwidth connectivity. A consideration for these less mature network types, is whether you want to run and operate a private network or whether you want to leverage private public or shared networks. If the latter is the case, then considerations should be made as to networks availability as these are not ubiquitous or overlapping the same extent as cellular networks. This can present challenges for mobile / roaming devices, global connectivity requirements and uptime needs.

There are also older technologies in use today such as Zigbee and proprietary mesh networks such as WiMAX and radio but their adoption across IoT applications is either insignificant or decreasing.

The choice of IoT connectivity technology that best suits your device and applications needs, underpinning the service you give to your customers should be driven by multiple considerations;

Data amount and transfer rate
Limitations in device power consumption (battery powered devices vs mains connected)
Network range requirements (short, long, or untra long)
Device location (easy or difficult to access post installation, urban, rural and fixed or mobile)
Geographic coverage (local, countrywide, regional or global)
Cost considerations (cost of acquisition and total cost of ownership)
Simplicity to set up and manage (advice, onboarding, continuous management)

Remember, connectivity is there to connect your devices to your application, so that you can derive meaningful and actionable insights and in turn give your customers best in class service.

Networks considerations conundrum? Give our experts a call.

Why choose cellular IoT Connectivity?

Even as a provider of managed Cellular IoT Connectivity, Pelion knows there are use cases where other connectivity technologies are a better fit. While we also inherently know the many reasons why cellular provides all the right outcomes for businesses deploying IoT solutions, we always take a consultative approach to helping our customers draw the right conclusions.

It starts from an assessment of what you are trying to achieve. With vast amounts of experience and having seen most IoT solutions brought to life, Pelion’s experts will always seek open and honest dialogue while appraising on the best connectivity solutions to meet your Device and IoT Application requirements.

When cellular connectivity is the right solution, it extends the enormous benefits of IoT to the businesses using it.

Here are some of the reasons companies opt for cellular connectivity:

Wide Coverage

Cellular networks provide extensive coverage, including both urban and remote areas. This wide coverage allows IoT devices to connect and transmit data even in areas where other connectivity options might not be available. Pelion has partnered with multiple Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) for enhanced coverage, even on a global scale.

Mobility

Cellular IoT devices can move freely within the coverage area without the need for reconfiguration. This mobility is especially useful for applications like asset tracking, fleet management, and transportation.

Reliability

Cellular networks are known for their reliability and uptime. Pelion, and our partner (MNOs) have designed and implemented our networks to ensure high availability, making cellular a dependable option for critical IoT applications that require constant connectivity.

Scalability

Cellular networks are designed to handle a large number of devices, making them scalable for businesses that need to deploy IoT solutions across a broad scope. Pelion’s has designed our core network, and the links we have with our partner MNOs for simple modular scalability, meaning we can always stay ahead of customer demand.

Data Speed and low latency

With advancements in cellular technology like 4G/LTE and 5G, data speeds have significantly improved, allowing faster data transfer rates for IoT devices. This is crucial for applications that require real-time data processing and low latency. Pelion supports customers across the globe which use fast cellular connectivity to connect video and cctv devices, passenger WiFi, and other high data rate, low latency applications.

Low Power Options

Cellular technologies like NB-IoT and LTE-M are designed specifically for low-power IoT applications. They offer extended battery life, making them suitable for devices that need to operate for extended periods without frequent recharging or maintenance. Pelion customers deploying gas and water metering devices, for example, must be able to rely that they continue to connect for 10+ years on battery life alone. The volumes of devices, and the relatively high cost to access deployed devices, would make the cost of more regular swap-outs prohibitively expensive.

Global Connectivity

Cellular networks have global reach, enabling IoT devices to operate internationally without the need for multiple regional deployments. This is advantageous for businesses with a global presence or cross-border operations. Pelion’s extensive ecosystem of MNO partners enables global connectivity for our customers but at a competitive price point.

Security

Cellular networks have built-in security features, including encryption and authentication protocols. This enhances the security of data transmission and helps protect against potential cyber threats. Pelion’s core services employ carrier-class protection from external threats as standard, with options to further extend security architecture from our core right into the heart of your application, offering true end to end security, integrity and reliability.

Mobile Network Operator Management and SIM Management

Cellular connectivity often comes with Mobile Network Operator management platforms and SIM management capabilities. These tools enable businesses to manage and monitor their IoT devices, data usage, and connectivity status efficiently. Pelion Connectivity Management Platform (CMP) provides feature rich visibility and control of your connected SIM estate that simplifies managing connectivity and allows customers to focus on the data and application service. Pelion CMP provides consolidated management of all of your connectivity, across geographies and regions, further simplifying the customer experience. Our API-first approach enables deep integration to customer systems, simplifying the management and operation of customer IoT services further still.

Flexibility to switch network providers during IoT Project Lifetime

Because cellular networks co-exist in most locations, with new technologies such as eUICC SIM cards, Pelion customers can switch networks post device installation and during the project lifetime, without returning to site. Pelion offers access to a vast number of Mobile Networks and as such switching is proven and simple. This presents opportunities to cost optimise, even several years into an IoT deployment with hundreds of thousands of devices. Everything can be managed centrally from Pelion’s Connectivity Management platform.

Service Management and Support

Many IoT connectivity solutions require the user organisation to build and operate the network infrastructure. Cellular IoT is provided as a managed service whereby providers of the connectivity with be able to offer Service Management and Support to customers, fully managing the networking and infrastructure on their behalf.

At Pelion, our customers have access to Support 24/7/365, Service Delivery to make onboarding and big transitions smooth, a dedicated Account Manager, as well as Pre-Sales Architecture and solutions-for-success resources to guide conversations towards high-quality, best-in-class and well connected solution decision making.

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Summary

IoT connectivity is a fundamental aspect of the Internet of Things that enables seamless communication between devices, application servers, and users. It allows businesses to remotely access and manage data, insights, and control, unleashing a plethora of benefits across various industries.

The wide array of connectivity technologies available for IoT solutions provides flexibility in choosing the most suitable option based on specific use cases. Cellular IoT stands out as a compelling choice due to its extensive coverage, reliability, scalability, high data speeds, and low-power options, making it ideal for diverse deployment scenarios.

By embracing IoT connectivity, businesses can leverage enhanced data collection and insights, improved efficiency, remote monitoring and management, cost savings, and improved customer experiences. Furthermore, IoT connectivity opens up new revenue streams, contributes to sustainability efforts, and offers a competitive advantage in the market.

Collaborating with experts like Pelion ensures businesses can navigate the complexities of IoT connectivity and achieve desired outcomes with reliability and simplicity. With a focus on providing managed Cellular IoT Connectivity, Pelion offers comprehensive support, carrier management, security, and global reach to cater to businesses’ diverse needs.

In this rapidly evolving era of digital transformation, harnessing the power of IoT connectivity is crucial for businesses seeking growth, efficiency, and innovation. By embracing IoT connectivity, businesses can position themselves at the forefront of technological advancements, driving success and thriving in the interconnected world of the Internet of Things.

So, in summary, while cellular is not always the right IoT Connectivity solution, it has attributes that make it the perfect choice in connected solution deployments.

Introduction to IoT Connectivity