Fifth iteration of the Communications Service Provider IoT Peer Benchmarking report from the world’s leading IoT analyst firm examines the key themes in cellular-based IoT connectivity and identifies the market leading MNOs and MVNOs.
Transforma Insights, the world’s leading Internet of Things analyst firm, has today published the 2025 edition of its ‘Communications Service Provider (CSP) IoT Peer Benchmarking Report’, identifying both the key themes that are defining the IoT connectivity market and the leading MNOs and MVNOs for IoT.
This report is based on extensive discussions with 27 leading global providers of cellular connectivity and detailed analysis of their capabilities and strategies. The CSPs profiled comprise: 1NCE, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom IoT, emnify, Eseye, floLIVE, KORE, KPN, NTT, Onomondo, Ooredoo, Pelion, Proximus Global, Semtech, Singtel, Soracom, Tata Communications, TEAL, Tele2, Telefónica, Telenor, Telia, Telit Cinterion, Velos IoT, Verizon, Vodafone and Wireless Logic.
As a result of the extensive analysis of the capabilities and strategies of the CSPs profiled here, as well as the ongoing research that we do on technical and commercial best practice in all aspects of cellular-based IoT connectivity, we are able to draw a set of conclusions about how the IoT connectivity market, and specifically that related to cellular connectivity, has evolved since the last report was published in July 2024.
There were three macro-level themes that emerged during the research:
More granular analysis – and exploring in more detail some of the aspects of those three high level trends – is provided in the report which highlights 24 key themes that surfaced during the research, as illustrated in the chart below.
Based on our assessment of the CSPs’ strategies and capabilities we seek to advise enterprise adopters of which would be the most appropriate vendor to use for their IoT connectivity needs. The answer to that question is always specific to that organisation’s requirements, so there is no single ‘best’ CSP for IoT. However, we do like to provide a comparison of all of the CSPs according to our view of what constitutes best practice and innovation in the field. As a result we include analysis indicating which of the IoT Connectivity Providers has the most scalable, compliant, transparent and/or future-proof approaches to addressing the various elements of IoT connectivity. That way we can, in some way, provide a useful comparison of capabilities.
This year’s analysis has been expanded to include a more structured approach to assessing capabilities related to addressing specific vertical use cases. Transforma Insights’ view has always been that the diversity of IoT means the demands of one use case or vertical will be very different from others. Consequently the ability of the different CSPs to address those requirements will also vary. Another tenet of our view of the market is that experience in addressing a particular use case is a significant asset; we will often recommend to enterprise adopters to seek out vendors that ‘have’ addressed their particular use case (or similar) rather than those that simply say they ‘can’. Based on those two considerations, we have added a dimension to the analysis this year which considers specifically (a) expertise and (b) experience in addressing a set of eight use case groups, including Automotive OEM, smart metering, and payment terminals. The other dimension of the assessment incorporates the horizontal ratings that we included in the analysis in previous years, looking at the overall capabilities of each of the CSPs in delivering IoT connectivity. This includes factors such as how multi-country connectivity is addressed, compliance, scalability, mechanisms for global traffic management, CMP capabilities, devices, security and consulting.
The top group of IoT connectivity providers is largely unchanged from last year, although we note a general continued improvement in developing mechanisms to support multi-country deployments including addressing more difficult geographies. Vodafone remains the leading global IoT connectivity provider. We expect further developments from it in the coming year as it realises the opportunities associated with its position as a more independent operator. Hot on Vodafone’s heels is AT&T, which is notable for adding a number of new capabilities which it is bedding in, including Global SIM Advanced, IoT Console Single Pane of Glass and Connection Manager. The continuing development of Verizon’s Global IoT Orchestration function also helps its global credibility, as does DT IoT’s extended work on partnership building with other MNOs. Wireless Logic has also notably ramped up its capabilities during the year, including through the Arqia acquisition. Telefónica’s position in the top rank of CSPs continues, thanks in large part to the depth of its vertical sector expertise, the wider capabilities of the Telefónica Tech group and the addition of some interesting capabilities to its connectivity proposition.
There continues to be a healthy group of innovative MVNOs, led by emnify, Eseye, floLIVE, Soracom and Tata Communications that have built notable capabilities that help them to score well on the Horizontal Expertise axis, albeit typically without the scale of vertical deployments (yet) to challenge for the top leadership positions in the overall ranking. In some cases the score on the Vertical Experience axis suffers from active decisions to not pursue the automotive OEM space, something which is probably the correct decision given how crowded that market is. In other cases, a decision to focus on a small subset of the functionality considered under the Horizontal Expertise umbrella means an overall relatively low score masking some innovative work, as is the case with TEAL.
In the chart above, for the purposes of full transparency, we also include a dot to indicate the location of the average Transforma Insights client (i.e. any company with which we have had a commercial relationship in the last 12 months). The majority of CSPs tracked in this study fall into that category.
The Communications Service Provider IoT Peer Benchmarking Report is based on detailed analysis of the strategies of 27 leading global providers of cellular connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT), both Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and IoT Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs). The Communications Service Providers profiled consist of: 1NCE, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom IoT, emnify, Eseye, floLIVE, KORE, KPN, NTT, Onomondo, Ooredoo, Pelion, Proximus Global, Semtech, Singtel, Soracom, Tata Communications, TEAL, Tele2, Telefónica, Telenor, Telia, Telit Cinterion, Velos IoT, Verizon, Vodafone and Wireless Logic.
Our selection was based on scale, ability to deliver global services, and innovation in the service offering. Inclusion in the report is also dependent on providing access to senior executives within the organisation and extensive insight on the proposition and strategies in order for Transforma Insights to form an appropriately accurate opinion on its position within the market. Our aim with this report is to highlight best practice and innovation in the provision of cellular-based IoT connectivity, and the ability to address the requirements of customers for IoT deployments.
Our research has focused on understanding, for each of the CSPs, their performance metrics, organisational structure, middleware (e.g. platforms), core network infrastructure, network architecture, network technologies, approaches to multi-country connectivity, hardware strategy, target verticals, expertise and experience in addressing customers across various verticals, key customer wins, availability of end-to-end solutions, application development, professional services, and channels and sales strategies, amongst other things.
This 161-page report starts with an Executive Summary which highlights the key high-level trends and overall market leaders. It continues to a section on ‘Key trends for Communications Service Providers in IoT’, which identifies the 24 major themes that emerge from the research on how the cellular-based IoT conectivity landscape is evolving. The next section – ‘How do we rate the leading vendors?’ – provides an explanation on the process and criteria for rating the CSPs, across both vertical and horizontal capabilities. The final section provides extensive profiles for each of the 27 CSPs.
If you have questions concerning the methodology or the report, don’t hesitate to contact our analysts via enquiries@transformainsights.com.
Based on the extensive research undertaken by Transforma Insights to prepare the 2025 edition of its Communications Service Provider IoT Peer Benchmarking Report, we will deliver a free webinar ‘IoT Communications Service Provider (CSP) strategies and landscape’ on the 25th November discussing the key themes and topics that have emerged from the process of preparing the benchmarking study.
Matt Hatton, Founding Partner of Transforma Insights will examine all aspects of the evolving technical, commercial and regulatory landscape for the delivery of cellular-based IoT connectivity. Topics to be addressed include:
The webinar will take place at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern / 4pm UK / 5pm Central Europe.
More details and a link to register can be found here: Webinar - IoT Communications Service Provider (CSP) strategies and landscape.
