Over the last six months, the global market for Internet-of-Things (IoT) connectivity services has started to look less like a race to sell SIM cards to connect devices and more like a competition to run complex, always-on digital infrastructure. Mobile operators and other connectivity specialists are investing in tools and partnerships that help enterprises manage device fleets at scale, extend coverage into hard-to-reach places, and lock in long-term, large-scale deployments that can deliver predictable revenue.
These key trends can be seen in announcements in the second half (H2) of 2025 from AT&T, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Tata Communications/Cisco, and Telefónica.
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The ‘management layer’ is becoming the product
As IoT deployments grow into the hundreds of thousands or millions of connected devices, the biggest pain point is often not the network itself. It’s the operational workload: onboarding devices, managing subscriptions, diagnosing issues, applying policies, and keeping everything secure across multiple countries and carriers.
That’s why major providers are emphasising unified management portals:
- AT&T introduced AT&T Connection Manager, a platform focused on subscription life-cycle management, diagnostics, automation, and security, aimed at managing IoT at massive scale in a ‘4G and 5G world.’
- T-Mobile launched T-Platform, a unified portal designed to centralise visibility and control across connectivity, devices, and security, with an advanced tier specifically aimed at large IoT deployments.
- Vodafone, in a move to support the growing reality of heterogeneous connectivity, is expanding its ‘single pane of glass’ approach by integrating its GDSP platform with Simetric’s, giving customers unified visibility across an IoT estate that may include multiple network partners managed through either one.
For business buyers, the implication is pretty straightforward: over time, the management platform may matter as much as the connectivity itself, because it heavily impacts the cost to operate, troubleshooting speed, and the ability/ease to scale.
Multi-network is normal, and eSIM orchestration is accelerating it
Global enterprises increasingly expect to mix and match connectivity providers: one operator in Europe, another in Latin America, private networks at industrial sites, and roaming or fallback options for remote locations. Some want to be able to reach multiple networks within a single geography. That makes differentiating on the simplicity of using a single carrier simplicity difficult to sustain.
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By GlobalDataThis is where eSIM is moving from a technical concept to a strategic enabler. This is reflected in the new collaboration between Cisco and Tata Communications which embeds Tata’s MOVE eSIM orchestration into Cisco’s IoT Control Center, one of the most widely used enterprise IoT management platforms. Businesses want the ability to activate and manage devices across multiple SIM providers and network types, without being locked into one connectivity stack.
In its Simetric announcement, Vodafone is also explicitly calling out SIM diversity – classic SIM, iSIM, eSIM – and referencing the new GSMA SGP.32 protocol, reinforcing a trend where the SIM layer is evolving and enterprises want tools that keep their deployments futureproof.
Satellite is becoming a practical continuity layer for IoT
For years, satellite connectivity sat around the edges of IoT, valuable, but often too specialised or too costly for mainstream deployments. That is changing as the industry converges on standards-based approaches that let devices roam between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
Two moves over the last few months highlight this shift. Deutsche Telekom, for one, is integrating its terrestrial network with Iridium NTN Direct, targeting NB-IoT connectivity from satellites directly to devices (with commercial launch planned for 2026). Vodafone has announced a similar partnership with Iridium to extend coverage beyond terrestrial reach for remote monitoring, tracking, and industrial use cases.
Meanwhile, Orange is building momentum from the consumer side by launching satellite SMS with Skylo using direct-to-device technology, with plans to extend to professional and corporate customers in 2026. Orange is also strengthening its enterprise satellite capabilities via a LEO agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb, oriented toward resilient, low-latency connectivity for remote services.
The common theme is resilience. Satellite doesn’t provide tons of bandwidth but it does fill in gaps in coverage, even offshore. Many IoT use cases need very little bandwidth, as it happens, but more and more are considered mission-critical and need to keep devices connected where terrestrial networks don’t exist or fail.
RedCap is emerging as the ‘middle’ option for IoT
A longstanding issue in IoT connectivity has been the gap between low-power wide area technologies (NB-IoT/LTE-M) and full 5G. Many devices need more capability than LPWA can provide, but full 5G modules can be overkill on cost and power requirements.
That’s why 5G RedCap (Reduced Capability) is attracting investment. AT&T’s nationwide RedCap footprint, which reached over 200 million points of presence in July, is meant to support a wide range of mid-tier devices – wearables, asset trackers, sensors, fleet devices – where ‘good enough’ but consistent 5G is the goal. As with any new wireless category, device/module availability and pricing will determine how quickly it becomes mainstream.
Megadeals are happening in utilities and regulated safety
Finally, several megadeals during the second half of the year show how providers are still looking for massive-scale deployments to drive not only connection growth but also long-term revenue with contracts that last for years and involve millions of endpoints.
Telefónica-Vivo’s 3.8bn reais deal with water utility Sabesp for NB‑IoT smart metering and leak detection is a textbook infrastructure megadeal, combining multimillion endpoints, measurable return on investment, and long-term operations. (Sustainability of public water supplies is increasingly a driver for new IoT capabilities. In the US, T-Mobile’s recently announced partnership with Fluid Conservation Systems shows how IoT connectivity can also provide continuous leak detection using acoustic sensors.)
In another recent IoT megadeal, Telefónica Tech is providing connectivity to more than 70% of Spain’s certified V‑16 beacons, which become mandatory for motorists from January 2026. The included 12-year SIM model is notable, given the predictability and stickiness of the long-term contract; even if ARPU is tiny, the scale makes it well worth it.
What this means for business leaders
The trend is consistent, in that IoT connectivity is becoming more multiaccess (terrestrial plus satellite), more software-defined (eSIM and orchestration), and even more outcomes-oriented (operational efficiency, resilience, and compliance). For enterprises, provider selection is increasingly about the ability to run and secure a device estate, not just connect it. For providers, the key to success will be making complexity disappear while offering flexible coverage and long-term deployment support.
