This blog draws on the findings of Transforma Insights’ recent LPWA Case Study Analysis report. The report is the summary of a comprehensive survey of Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) technologies, which for the purposes of our analysis we defined to include NB-IoT, LTE-M, LoRa and LoRaWAN (in this blog we will refer to both as LoRaWAN), and Sigfox.
LPWA, or Low Power Wide Area, refers to a category of wireless communication technologies designed to support connectivity for IoT devices, and which benefit from low power consumption requirements whilst supporting connectivity potentially over a wide geographic area. They can support a connectivity experience that is very similar to traditional cellular services, i.e., a long-range connection to a device, but differ in the sense that they have been optimised to support machine-type communications: small messages, generally sent infrequently, and for which low-latency is not a critical requirement. For IoT connections, these technologies often prove to be much cheaper and more suitable options in comparison to using more consumer-focussed (and higher bandwidth and lower latency) cellular technologies since IoT devices are often low-cost sensors that do not require frequent or high bandwidth data connections and for which longer battery life can be a significant benefit.
The report provides a detailed analysis of the different regions across the globe that are leading the adoption of LPWA technologies of different types and the specific IoT applications that are driving this adoption. The analysis considers all types of applications, client industries, regions, and industry verticals as defined by Transforma Insights in our IoT TAM (Total Addressable Market) forecasts.
The findings of the report are based on a wide-ranging secondary research analysis of case studies, including an analysis of the case studies included in Transforma Insights’ Best Practice & Vendor Selection Case Study Database and other case studies available through public sources. This combined LPWA database includes approaching one-thousand case studies that collectively illustrate how LPWA technologies can impact enterprises in all sectors.
At the time of writing, the database included 945 LPWA technology case studies in total. As illustrated in the graphic below, 45% (426) of the identified cases used only LoRaWAN, 18% (173) only Sigfox, 18% (167) only NB-IoT, and 11% (103) used only LTE-M. A further 4% (41) use a combination of NB-IoT and LTE-M, whilst 2% (19) use other combinations of the LPWA technologies. We have also identified 16 LPWA case studies (2%) for which information on the type of LPWA connectivity used is not available via secondary research.
Breakdown of identified LPWA case studies by technology [Source: Transforma Insights LPWA Case Study Database, 2025]
LPWA technologies are gaining traction in most regions of the world, especially in Europe, North America, Australasia and Greater China. However, as illustrated below and based on the count of identified case studies, many regions prefer specific LPWA technologies due to a great extent to the availability of networks offered by service providers and the required infrastructure investments.
Based on the 945 case studies identified as part of our LPWA database, many regions have a strong preference for LoRaWAN including Europe, North America, Australasia, Greater China, Sub-Saharan Africa and India & South Asia. Similarly, LoRaWAN is the leading LPWA technology in all other regions other than ‘Global’ (representing multi-country and multi-region deployments). Sigfox has a significant presence in each geographic market, although the technology does seem to be significantly less preferred in India & South Asia and for Global applications.
Share of different technologies by region [Source: Transforma Insights LPWA Case Study Database, 2025]
Standalone NB-IoT seems to be an unpopular technology choice in North America (5% of case studies), and to a lesser extent South America (9%). However, the technology seems to have significant traction in India & South Asia (40%) and Greater China (36%). Standalone LTE-M, on the other hand, seems to have significant traction in North America (28%), Latin America (18%) and Australasia (11%) but has made little impression beyond these markets.
In the context of Global applications, often products, that are intended to be deployed across multiple countries or regions around the world, the standardised and relatively ubiquitous coverage offered by LTE-M and NB-IoT can be a significant benefit and these two technologies together support the significant majority of Global case studies that we have identified (64%), used either individually or in combination.
