Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2022-2030)

NB-IoT is a low-power wide-area (LPWA) technology based on standards that are intended to make a wide range of new IoT devices and services possible. NB-IoT fundamentally further develops client gadget power utilization, framework limit, and unearthly proficiency, particularly in profound inclusion. The expansion of coverage beyond what is offered by current cellular technologies is one of NB-IoT's objectives. Retransmissions and various bandwidth allocation configurations for uplink transmissions are also provided by NB-IoT.

The NB-IoT Market is expected to grow at a steady rate of around 40% owing to the rising adoption of IoT and connected devices as well as AI, ML, and big data analytics across industrial and commercial applications. Moreover, the rapidly-growing applications of NB-IoT technology and the growing interest of technology companies and telecommunications service providers in designing and developing NB-IoT devices and roll-out services are further contributing to the growth of the market. For instance, in November 2022, the global availability of the ALT1350 was announced by Sony Semiconductor Israel (Sony), a manufacturer of cellular IoT chipsets. The ALT1350 is the first cellular LTE-M/NB-IoT solution to incorporate satellite connectivity (NTN) and additional LPWA communication protocols into a single chipset.

Based on component, the market is bifurcated into network and module. The network segment held a dominating share of the market in 2021 owing to the high adoption of NB-IoT networks due to their cost-effectiveness, lower deployment costs, and lower operating costs. They offer better coverage and a longer range than traditional cellular networks and are designed to operate in challenging environments where other wireless technologies may not be practical

On the basis of deployment, the market is categorized into standalone, in-band, and guard-band. Among these, the guard-band catered to a significant share of the market in 2021 and is expected to grow at a robust CAGR during the forecast period. One of the most important factors driving the expansion of this market is the capacity to utilize the cellular infrastructure that is already in place, such as antennas and Radio Frequency (RF) modules, without having to incur additional costs for spectrum

Based on device type, the NB-IoT market has been classified into wearables, tracker, smart meter, smart lighting, alarm & detector, and others. The wearable category captured a prominent share of the market in 2021 due to the rapidly increasing demand for sports, fitness, and healthcare devices for personal care and diagnostics. Moreover, the increasing adoption of healthcare wearable devices in developed economies such as Germany, Japan, the U.K., the U.S., and others is further propelling the growth of the wearable segment

By application, the market is segmented into smart cities, transportation & logistics, energy & utilities, agriculture, and others. Among these, the smart cities application held the largest share of the NB-IoT market. This dominating share can be attributed to the large-scale adoption of the NB-IoT technology in applications related to smart lighting, smart security and surveillance systems, smart building, environmental monitoring, and disaster management applications as well as smart city projects

For a better understanding of the market adoption of the NB-IoT industry, the market is analyzed based on its worldwide presence in the countries such as North America (U.S., Canada, Rest of North America), Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, Rest of Asia-Pacific), Rest of World. North America dominated the global NB-IoT market in 2021. Several prominent device manufacturers and network service providers in North America concentrate on the testing and commercialization of consumer and industrial application solutions. Qualcomm Inc., AT&T, Cellco Partnership (Verizon Wireless), T-Mobile US, Inc., Intel Corporation, and Verizon Wireless are a few of these network operators and device manufacturers

Some of the major players operating in the market include: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson; Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.; AT&T; Verizon; T-Mobile USA, Inc.; Vodafone Group Plc; Nokia; MediaTek Inc.; and Intel Corporation