In the News

Wireless Logic’s acquisition of SIMETRY reinforces its position as IoT’s most aggressive consolidator. But while the managed connectivity market is widely tipped for merger-driven scale, inflated valuations and healthy growth rates may be slowing broader industry consolidation.

Within the IoT world there has been an increasing buzz around the concept of ‘Physical AI’, the idea that IoT deployments will act as the eyes and ears of Artificial Intelligence as well as extending AI-based decision-making and actuating into the physical world.

The IoT and AI are a likely partnership: IoT generates and captures data, often in large volume, AI is ideally placed to analyze it. Combined, AIoT presents new opportunities, so much so that Transforma Insights forecasts no fewer than 9.1 billion AIoT connections at the end of 2033, a more than six-fold increase in 10 years.

Telefónica Tech has joined the growing list of telcos to enable remote eSIM provisioning for global IoT customers. It has partnered with French aerospace giant Thales to launch an eSIM offering based on the GSMA SGP.32 standard, which enables customers to download and activate SIM profiles from available mobile networks on their IoT devices.

T-Mobile will retire its 2G GSM network on August 3, 2026, a company spokesperson confirmed to Fierce Network — giving operators of connected-device fleets exactly 27 days to complete migrations that, if missed, will strand equipment with no path back to service.

Vodafone IoT is preparing to launch satellite-based connectivity this year from Iridium and Skylo to connect more "things" and some animals too.

One of Transforma Insights’ key focus areas is cellular-based IoT connectivity, tracking key trends in best practice and the evolution of technology, regulation and commercial models in the space. One perennial concern for IoT connectivity providers, whether MNOs or MVNOs, is price erosion. As a result, writes Matt Hatton, the founding partner of Transforma Insights, one overriding key theme of their evolving strategies is the pursuit of mechanisms to mitigate continuing declines in average revenue per connection

The twin industry gatherings of Mobile World Congress and Embedded World in consecutive weeks in March offered a revealing snapshot of the evolving IoT connectivity market. Unlike previous years, when a single technology narrative dominated the discussion, the overarching message in 2026 was one of gradual evolution and maturity. The industry continues to discuss artificial intelligence, but the real developments lie in infrastructure, positioning and market maturity rather than breakthrough technologies.

CIOs need to make their networks a strategic priority as agentic AI ramps up business change.

In this episode of the IoT For All Podcast, Matt Hatton, Founding Partner at Transforma Insights, joins Ryan Chacon to discuss IoT trends and predictions for 2026. The conversation covers the key findings of the Communication Service Provider IoT Benchmarking Report, the IoT Transition Topics, the role AI will play in IoT, and the evolving landscape of connectivity with NB-IoT, satellite, and 5G.