Inmarsat Research reveals that poor or unreliable connectivity is a key barrier limiting the success of IoT projects for most organisations.
According to the research report ‘Industrial IoT in the Time of Covid-19’ 75 percent of businesses experience connectivity challenges when trialling IoT projects and don’t feel that public terrestrial networks are completely suitable for their IoT needs.
For most businesses, the success of IoT projects hinges on connectivity being reliable, available, and responsive enough to deliver actionable data at the right time and at the right cost to deliver a strong return on investment.
IoT is a network of networks, therefore reliable connectivity is essential for enabling business-critical IoT projects, particularly in some of the world’s remotest locations, where terrestrial connectivity, such as cellular or fibre, is either limited or non-existent.
When choosing IoT connectivity types in areas where terrestrial connectivity is lacking, respondents prioritise reliability (47 percent), security (42 percent) and network coverage (38 percent). This focus on the reliability of IoT connectivity is even more pronounced in Latin America (56 percent) as well as Russia and the Stans (65 percent), regions with extensive remote territories with limited terrestrial connectivity. None of the respondents in either region said public terrestrial networks were completely suitable for their IoT needs.
Overall, there is still a considerable amount of work to be done to improve IoT connectivity strategies, with only 37 percent of all organisations using some form of backup connectivity to continue collecting IoT data in remote areas away from terrestrial communications. Again, there is a notable geographical variance here, with only 10 per cent of Latin American organisations and 25 percent of businesses in Russia and the Stans electing to use some form of backup connectivity when they cannot connect to their chosen connectivity type.
Encouragingly, 80 percent of all respondents agreed that since solving their IoT connectivity challenges they have enjoyed much more success with their IoT projects. With more than three-quarters (76 percent) agreeing that satellite connectivity provides critical support to their organisation’s IoT communication networks.
Inmarsat Enterprise President Mike Carter said: “With three-quarters of our research respondents experiencing connectivity issues when trialling IoT projects, it is clear many businesses need to overcome these challenges to maximise their return on investment. The fact that they also cite the limitations of public terrestrial networks as a barrier to the success of their IoT projects highlights the importance of reliable, secure and responsive connectivity for delivering the actionable, timely data they need to achieve their IoT ambitions. Dependable, flexible satellite communications play a key role in enabling IoT for businesses, allowing data to be collected, stored, and analysed from anywhere on the planet, including far-flung sites well out of reach of terrestrial connectivity.
“Businesses are increasingly appreciating that data collected in the remotest areas is often the most valuable, as business-critical activities happen there. Whether running a remote farm in Brazil, a mining facility in Western Australia, or an oil well in the Arabian desert, there need not be holes in an organisation’s visibility of its operations. Inmarsat Enterprise focuses on providing IoT connectivity to business-critical applications in remote places, via our highly reliable L-band network, ELERA. As the world’s leading provider of global, mobile satellite communications with the widest, most expert partner network globally, we work closely with our customers to help them achieve the most reliable, cost-effective, and efficient mix of different IoT connectivity types.
“In addition, to produce highly accurate, near real-time ‘digital twins’ of their global supply chains, businesses need to work with trusted connectivity partners to develop the most suitable IoT connectivity strategies. Inmarsat ELERA is ideally suited for the billions of new IoT devices and sensors that are being connected every year. It has been designed for those businesses looking to accelerate and improve their IoT deployments, enabling organisations from all sectors to access IoT anywhere.”
