NB-IoT and LTE-MTC Global Ecosystem and Market Status
NB-IoT and LTE-MTC Global Ecosystem and Market Status
NB-IoT and LTE-MTC Global Ecosystem and Market Status
September 2019
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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•• Seven identified devices support Cat-NB2 (five of which also support
Cat-M1 and six of which also support-Cat NB1).
•• 198 devices support Cat-M1 (including known variants); 72 of them
support Cat-M1 only.
•• 60.4% are modules, 25.4% are asset trackers, and 5.6% are routers,
with data loggers, femtocells, smart-home devices, and smart watches,
USB modems, and vehicle on-board units (OBUs), making up the
balance.
26 commercially
available •• 26 commercially available chipsets supporting either NB-IoT or Cat-M1.
chipsets support The 3GPP IoT technologies NB-IoT and LTE-M are set to become the global
either NB-IoT or
Cat-M1 dominant LPWA technologies that will enable huge IoT market growth.
IoT infrastructure, chipsets, modules and devices are now available from a
range of companies: large and small, well-established and start-up.
The increasing size of the 3GPP ecosystem will further drive commercialisation
of IoT, with mobile operators, infrastructure suppliers, chipset and module
manufacturers, device companies and development and testing houses
supporting new services.
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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Technology status
This report covers the 3GPP-standards-based Low Power Wide Area (LPWA)
technologies for LTE. These include:
NB-IoT and LTE-M are defined in 3GPP Release 13. NB-IoT can be deployed
within an LTE carrier, or in the guard band of an LTE carrier, or as a stand-
alone carrier in other (non-LTE) spectrum, with a system bandwidth that can
be as narrow as 180 kHz. LTE-M is deployed within an LTE carrier. Two User
Equipment (UE) categories were defined: Cat-NB1 (for NB-IoT networks) and
Cat-M1 (for LTE-M networks). The coverage enhancement modes introduced as
part of LTE-M can also be optionally supported by ordinary LTE UE categories.
New categories of devices were also set out in the specification: Cat-NB2 and
Cat-M2 devices supporting greater bandwidth and higher peak upstream and
downstream speeds than their Cat-NB1 and Cat-M1 counterparts. Furthermore,
ordinary LTE-M devices that make use of the LTE-M coverage enhancement
modes can use even larger bandwidths and peak rates than Cat-M2.
Release 15 adds new capabilities for NB-IoT including support for TDD and
small cells, extensions to NB-IoT stand-alone mode, several enhancements
designed to reduce power consumption, and improved access control. LTE-M
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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enhancements were introduced by Release 15 that were designed to enable
new use-cases, including support for higher UE velocity, and a lower UE power
class. Other LTE-M enhancements covered lower latency, reduced UE power
consumption, increased spectral efficiency and improved access control. In
general, new LTE-M improvements are applicable across all duplex modes
(FDD, TDD and HD-FDD) and can be supported by both Cat-M1 and Cat-M2
devices as well as by ordinary LTE devices that implement support for LTE-M
coverage enhancement modes.
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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Figure 1: Map of countries with deployed/launched NB-IoT and LTE-M networks
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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LTE-M launches, plans and trials
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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Chipsets
The number of system-on-chip (SoC) and chipsets released for Cat-NB1/NB2
and Cat-M1 has grown quickly. GSA has identified 32 modem chipsets/SoCs/
platforms supporting Cat-1, Cat-M1, Cat-NB1 or NB2, or both. Of these, 26 of
these support Cat-M1, Cat-NB1 or NB2. Of these, 12 support Cat-NB1/NB2
and Cat-M1.
Figure 4: Numbers of chipsets supporting 3GPP IoT standards, with percentage of total (32)
Lists of chipsets supporting Cat-1, Cat-NB1, Cat-NB2 and Cat-M1 are available
in GSA’s report: LTE, 5G and 3GPP IoT Chipsets: Status Update, published on the
GSA website in July 2019.
Devices
The 3GPP-compliant LPWA device ecosystem has grown too. GSA has identified
303 devices supporting either Cat-NB1/NB-2 or Cat-M1 – more than 50%
greater than in April 2019. The full list of modules and devices is available to
303 devices
support either subscribers in GSA’s GAMBoD database.
Cat-NB1/NB2 or
Cat-M1, or both In total, 230 devices have been released supporting Cat-NB1 (including known
variants); 103 of them support Cat-NB1 only. In total, 198 devices have been
released supporting Cat-M1 (including known variants); 72 of them support
Cat-M1 only.
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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Figure 5: Cat-NB1, Cat-NB2 and Cat-M1 devices by form factor (total: 303)
Over 60% of
all devices
supporting
NB-IoT and
Cat-M1 are
modules
The rapid rise in the number of devices supporting Cat-NB1, Cat-NB2 and
Cat-M1 is in step with the number of operators and countries that are deploying
cellular IoT networks and suggests growing momentum in the ecosystem. GSA
will continue to track this market, with device data in its GAMBoD database
updated regularly, and with regularly published statistics on the launch of NB-
IoT and LTE-M networks drawn from its Networks, Technologies and Spectrum
(NTS) database.
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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About GSA
GSA reports are compiled from data stored in the GSA Analyser for Mobile
Broadband Devices/Data (GAMBoD) database, which is a GSA Member and
Associate benefit. For more information on accessing the GSA GAMBoD database
please contact GSA at [email protected]
GSA actively promotes the 3GPP technology road-map – 3G, 4G, 5G – and
is a single source of information resource for industry reports and market
intelligence. GSA Members drive the GSA agenda and define the communications
and development strategy for the Association.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gsacom
Contact
GSA Secretariat
GSA Report | September 2019 | NB-IoT and LTE-M: Global Ecosystem and Market Status
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