The LPWAN & IoT Value Chain Nick Hunn WiFore Consulting
The IoT is Hard
Very Hard
LPWAN is making it more difficult It s confusing implementers with even more options
Just do it! but make it easy.
Moving from M2M to IoT M2M IoT Cost of Deployment Time LoRa vs LTE-M vs Sigfox. Who will win the battle for the IoT? http://bit.ly/whichwan
The bad news is the timescale M2M IoT It may look like this. Cost of Deployment Time
Cutting the Cost of Hardware
$3 modules are here The industry is already talking about a roadmap to $1.
Cutting the Cost of Connections
LPWAN Tariffs are Falling $ 0.30 / month for 100kB on LoRa The industry is already talking about a roadmap to $1 / year for basic data. Cheap is not enough. It needs to be easy to pay for it.
Cutting the Cost of Provisioning Still a work in progress.
Understand what drives each LPWAN. Technology Pro Con Ingenu 10 years of practical experience Robust LoRa Anyone can become an MVNO Good traction with networks Semtech just want to sell chips Limited network availability Anyone can become an MVNO Too many options NB-IoT GSM Standard GSM Standard Mostly slideware at present Sigfox Wants to be a global ISP Cheap Widest network coverage Focuses on investor return and its IPO Which one aligns with your business plan?
What developers want Low cost hardware / modules Simple provisioning Simple, upfront data plans All of that in a form which works globally with no reconfiguration. The aim is to get to BILLIONS of deployed devices, not just let the IoT be a playground for makers, hobbyists and small scale deployments. So the winning LPWAN will be the one which makes it easiest.
So, what else is in the IoT value chain?
The IoT value stack Deployment & Physical installation Project Management Deployment Algorithm Development Additional Data Sourcing Business Applications (vertical) Applications & Analytics Business Applications (packaged) Data Cleansing & Verification IoT Analytics Cloud Device Management Security & Updates Data Contracts Provisioning Comms Sensor & Physical IoT Infrastructure (DLC Device Life Cycle) Connectivity Hardware
Changing deployment cost Cellular LPWAN Relative Project Costs for Cellular and LPWAN for new Deployments
The effect of LPWAN on value LPWAN is successfully squeezing the cost out of connectivity and hardware. Cellular Hardware Connectivity IoT Infrastructure Applications Deployment LPWAN IoT Infrastructure Applications Estimates based on new projects with 5 year working life. In the future, value is in IoT infrastructure (cloud and management) and Applications (Software and Analytics). It is not in hardware, network infrastructure and connectivity. But it needs those to be low cost and work seamlessly to get to scale. Beware of companies bearing platforms.
Who will make money from the IoT? 20 Billion 50 Billion 1.5 Trillion Data Analytics The absolute number of devices excites analysts, investors, silicon suppliers and network operators. But that s not where the value is. The number of devices is just a means to an end. The value of the IoT is in the volume of data. Companies that understand middleware and analytics and can apply the cloud to the IoT will be the real winners.
Future IoT value is in the Cloud Cellular LPWAN Cloud 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 Cellular Operators have assumed the role of custodians of M2M and the IoT since the early 1990s. LPWAN is disrupting that position, moving value from connectivity to applications. The evolution of new payment methods may be as important for the IoT as new communications technology. This provides a window for new entrants to disrupt and take control of the value of the IoT. LPWAN needs to concentrate on making this easy. And IoT companies need to concentrate of installing nodes and making money.
Challenges The IoT is ultimately about generating data and analysing data. Everything else is subservient. But Everybody wants to be a specialist. Everyone thinks their technology is the best. Everyone wants their own API. Too few people understand the whole picture. Until that changes
The IoT will be Hard
Questions? Nick Hunn CTO mob: +44 7768 890 148 email: nick@wifore.com web: www.wifore.com Creative Connectivity Blog: LinkedIn: www.nickhunn.com www.linkedin.com/in/nickhunn