T-Mobile’s wholesale momentum continued this week, as IoT provider Sierra Wireless expanded its relationship in a new agreement to leverage the carrier’s IoT, 4G LTE and 5G networks.
T-Mobile has been touting extra network capacity, helping boost its wholesale efforts, such as a recent multiyear exclusive deal with Google for its MVNO Google Fi.
Under the new wholesale arrangement with T-Mobile, Sierra Wireless can offer access to the operator’s low-power wide area (LPWA), 4G LTE and 5G networks. It looks as though that means both low- and mid-band 5G from T-Mobile, as Sierra cited the operator’s “multi-band 5G connectivity.”
Sierra appears in part to be gearing up for more advanced IoT applications, calling out “ultra-high data” supported by 4G and 5G for applications like commercial security and video surveillance, telehealth services, digital vending and signage which require and can utilize the networks high throughput and low latency.
Still, the wholesale deal aims to support a range of IoT applications, according to Dan Thygesen, Senior Vice President of T-Mobile Wholesale.
“T-Mobile Wholesale brings our customers solutions delivering the most advanced 5G network performance and capabilities. This agreement enables Sierra Wireless customers to access T-Mobile’s connectivity for any IoT use case demanding low, high or ultra-high data," stated Thygesen in the announcement. "We can’t wait to see the expanded customer applications resonate in the marketplace as a result of the new agreement."
Sierra Wireless offers IoT connectivity and managed services and tools, with global SIMs through its Smart Connectivity Service, and IoT device modules and routers. One area of the T-Mobile relationship is focused on low-power wide area (LPWA) connectivity for less data-intensive use cases, which it said can reduce total cost of ownership and simplify design and logistics when combining the network, global SIM and services from Sierra Wireless.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Sierra Wireless reported $104.5 million in revenue from IoT solutions, a 28.2% jump versus Q4 2020. The company attributed the increase to growth in IoT connectivity services and significantly higher sales of IoT devices.
While Thursday’s announcement highlighted LPWA connectivity, it didn’t make specific mention of whether that’s coming from T-Mobile’s Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) network, which launched nationwide in 2018. That said, Sierra and T-Mobile have had a long relationship for NB-IoT, one of the main technologies for LPWA.* The wholesale agreement includes access to LTE-M or CATM1 for Sierra's Smart Connectivity, and NB-IoT is not part of the offer at this stage, according to a Sierra spokesperson. Also new to the wholesale agreement is T-Mobile's 5G for the vendor's Enhanced Carrier Connectivity.
LPWA applications leveraging NB-IoT and Cat-M connections are part of expectations for Massive IoT, where there are large numbers of connected low-complexity, low-cost devices that have long battery lives and lifecycles, sending smaller data packets – such as smart meters, for example. Massive IoT connections are projected to account for 51% of all cellular IoT connections by 2027, according to Ericsson’s November 2021 Mobility Report.
The report forecasts wide-area IoT connections, including cellular, will jump from 2.1 billion in 2021 to 5.9 billion in 2027, growing at a CAGR of 19%.
IoT devices using 2G and 3G have been in slow decline since 2019, according to the Ericcson report. But some IoT stakeholders have been among those raising concerns over U.S. operators 3G shutdowns, including the alarm industry.
On the 5G side, Sierra Wireless pointed to massive-machine type communications, ultra-reliable communication and enhanced mobile broadband applications for the IoT market enabled by the faster data speeds, lower latency and more device capacity.
T-Mobile also put IoT in focus last month with parent Deutsche Telekom, as the two launched T-IoT – promising a comprehensive enterprise solution for the global IoT market with connectivity spanning NB-IoT, LTE-M, LTE and 5G.
*Article updated with comments from Sierra Wireless spokesperson.