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Applications including smart healthcare, industrial IoT, smart homes, smart cities, autonomous vehicles and AR/VR will boost the number of Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) connections in Australia to 11.1 million by the end of 2024, according to a recent research by GlobalData.
GlobalData forecasts M2M/IoT revenues in Australia will rise from $141 million in 2018 to $250 million by 2024.
Antariksh Raut, senior analyst of telecoms market data and intelligence at GlobalData, said IoT will “revolutionise” the future of the information communication sector by establishing seamless communication between machines and consumers.
“5G will emerge as the backbone of IoT ecosystem due to its massive speed, responsiveness and energy efficiency. Australian mobile network operators [MNOs] have already got their 5G spectrum in place and 5G connectivity will soon be a reality for consumers.”,” the analyst said.
Telstra yesterday revealed that some 100,000 5G devices have been connected to its network since its May 2019 launch of the technology. “We’re also excited to see that customers who aren’t yet covered by the 5G footprint already readying themselves for service, with a quarter of the phones we’ve sold since July 2019 5G-compatible,” Telstra's group executive, consumer and small business Michael Ackland said in a statement.
Telstra also announced it had increased the range of sites delivering its Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) coverage from 100 kilometres to 120 kilometres.
"This means we’ll expand the coverage of this narrowband IoT network from an impressive 3.5 million square kilometres to nearly 4 million square kilometres. We hope to complete that expansion in the early part of this year," Ackland said.
GlobalData estimates that Australian 5G subscriptions will reach 9.6 million by 2024. The firm also said it was forecasting IoT and M2M penetration in Australia will reach 41 per cent by 2024.
As of 2018, penetration was 23 per cent, but thanks to growing adoption and investment in infrastructure such as 5G, IoT and M2M applications are set to become key revenue generation streams for telcos.
“Australian operators understand the significance of M2M/IoT applications and its impact on company revenues,” Raut said. “By leveraging 5G infrastructure and investing in NB-IoT technologies operators have already started the new chapter of telecommunication businesses by moving to new revenue streams like M2M/IoT from its conventional mobile and fixed broadband communication services.”
“To leverage the growing demand from M2M/IoT applications, MNOs in Australia have started providing industry-specific solutions such as smart cities, asset tracking, and supply chain and logistics," Raut added.
"Operators like Telstra, Optus and [Vodafone Hutchison Australia] have comprehensive listing of IoT solutions offerings on their company website.”