In Defense of the Telcos
Allen Proithis
Global Tech Executive & Board Director: 5G/AI Ecosystem & Solutions, Strategic Partnerships. Scaling companies via market execution.
I may be the last person you would expect to defend the honor of the world’s mobile network operators given that I led the team that built a Sigfox network in the US covering over 70 million people. I feel that Iain Morris’ article “How NB-IoT bombed: An IoT tale of hubris and no-show” only partially represents the reality of what drives IoT solutions at scale.
NB-IoT may have been accelerated to counter a perceived threat from LoRa and Sigfox, but every technology has its place. NB-IoT network coverage is many orders of magnitude beyond what unlicensed connectivity will provide at any time soon. Unlicensed LPWAN addresses other challenges such as superior battery life and much stronger support of data while in motion. LoRa, for instance, supports an incredibly flexible deployment model along with a much richer selection of off-the-shelf end devices all at a lower cost. Try having some fun developing a NB-IoT device and see how long it takes to get through testing and certification.
The “dog that didn’t bark” in this article is the sales cycle time for IoT. Selling IoT solutions is a long, complex process. LPWAN connectivity only represents around 5% of the total solution value. Think of connectivity as necessary but not sufficient for business impact. The operational processes of deploying large numbers of devices, data integration and support systems can lengthen a typical IoT sales process to 12-24 months or even longer. Once the solution survives multiple trials and proof-of-concepts, only then do you begin the process of deploying at scale. When you account for the sales cycle timing, the uptick of NB-IoT devices is actually quite impressive!
IoT technologies continue to evolve making it easier for companies to reduce cost and increase revenue. The fact that things are moving in the right direction does not mean that solutions at scale are deployed overnight. Remember, the first cellular call was placed in 1979, and the concept behind CDMA was created during World War II! Complex solutions take time, especially in the early days of a technology as they must integrate and provide value with existing business structures. NB-IoT will continue to steadily grow and look for strong growth in other connectivity technologies such as LoRa, BLE and even satellite-based communications.
Chief Marketing Officer | Product MVP Expert | Cyber Security Enthusiast | @ GITEX DUBAI in October
1 年Allen, thanks for sharing!
Head of Incubator @ YES!Delft - Supporting entrepreneurs in building and growing technology companies | Startup Incubation | Entrepreneurship
4 年Allen Proithis Having worked for telco's and as a (telco) customer of IoT solutions I recognise your point regarding the time consuming sales cycle. Also agree that (LPWAN) connectivity is only a small part of the solution. In my view one of the reasons for telco's to carefully consider their marketing of IoT and their role in the (IoT) value chain. By promoting (IoT) technologies using (fancy) abbreviations and overpromising the performance of these technologies they position themselves in a way that confuses and often disappoints (potential) customers. In a lot of cases this results in a "once bitten, twice shy" mindset at (potential) customers. Focusing on use cases and what the problem is the customer wants to solve could improve this. This could (and should) go as far as offering technology- and supplier agnostic solutions which in some cases use technologies and solutions not offered by the telco itself if the solve the customer's problem. This gives customers the possibility to start using (IoT) future proof solutions developing increasing business value along the way instead of waiting for the full business case to emerge. The most recent start of a dedicated IoT company at Deutsche Telekom led by Rami Avidan is an interesting way of a more solution and less connectivity focused approach of a telco.
Because the Internet of Things won't analyse itself.
4 年Absolutely. Huawei bought Neul in Sept 2014. Frankly I think it’s been a stunning result to get the tech standardised as part of 3GPP and rolled out in such a short time. There’s a few sticking points. For instance more fine tuning needed than the ‘software upgrade’ promised. And the low data volumes require an overhaul of pricing and business models. All time-consuming stuff. I think it’s waaaay to early to talk about NB-IoT as a failure.