Communications Service Provider (CSP) IoT Peer Benchmarking Report 2021

Transforma Insights’ Communications Service Provider (CSP) IoT Peer Benchmarking 2021 report analyses the strategies and capabilities of twelve leading providers of global IoT connectivity: Aeris Communications, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, KORE, KPN, Orange, Tele2, Telefónica, Telenor, Telia, Verizon and Vodafone. The twelve operators have been chosen based on an analysis of dozens of operators in terms of scale and globalisation of offering.

The 82-page report leads with analysis of how the dozen operators are positioned to thrive as CSPs in IoT. Most specifically it looks at how able they are to pursue a strategy of being a Hyperscale IoT Connectivity Provider, including the seven elements of a successful hyperscale approach. It also examines other strategic approaches including moving ‘up-the-stack to address vertical solutions, layering on horizontal capabilities particularly around data analytics and management, and horizontal consulting/systems integration/support functions.

The majority of the report consists of profiles of each of the companies, featuring sections covering each of the following:

• Background section provides information on the history of the organisation, its structure, size of the team, statistics such as numbers and types of connections, and other salient information.

• Networks section look at capabilities to support connected devices using both public broadband (e.g. LTE and 5G) and narrowband (e.g. NB-IoT or LoRa) networks as well as private networks installed at the customer premises. This includes consideration of how able the CSP is to support connectivity around the world including via partners and alliances.

• Middleware section focuses on a diverse set of platforms and the CSP strategies related to them, most prominently connectivity management, device management, and application enablement.

• Data Management, including hosting, analytics and capabilities associated with post-event data management such as exchanges and trading platforms.

• Solutions and Services covering the approach to addressing vertical sectors either through packaged propositions or through consulting and systems integration.

• Other section which looks at competitive differentiators and capabilities not otherwise considered in the other sections. This includes security and devices.