Five trends to watch out for in 2025

The IoT continues to provide a world of opportunity to organisations seeking to automate, better serve customers, improve efficiency and innovate. The figures are staggering – a potential 20.4 billion global IoT connections generating over 79 zettabytes (ZB) of data in 2025.  

This growth is not, of course, baked in. It can be positively or negatively affected by developments in technology, regulation and the competitive market. So, what is 2025 likely to bring? Here we examine five developments to look out for.   

AI will drive demand for security, high uptime and edge computing 

2025 will signal a reckoning for artificial intelligence (AI). Companies have gone through their discovery phases and will now start deciding how AI will generate value for them.  

Generative AI (GenAI) attracts a lot of attention, but in 2025 machine learning will have a resurgence. The bigger and richer data sets it will generate will equip enterprises to be more analytical. This will stimulate further innovation in areas such as digital surveillance but will also drive the need for lower latency, edge computing to reduce centralised cloud costs and therefore OPEX, and higher reliability.  

Enterprises are now more aware than ever of the importance of reliability and uptime. Without resilience, they could face potentially expensive hard resets in the event of an outage. They will want to see evidence from OEMs and connectivity providers that they can detect offline devices, store and backup data and shutdown non-essential processes when needed, and restore service gracefully.  

As enterprises incorporate AI into their solutions, they potentially increase attack surfaces, and therefore their vulnerabilities. This, together with the ever-increasing threat of cyberattacks that themselves use AI, will add weight to the argument that enterprises must assess their IoT designs against a security framework and that OEMs must make devices and solutions secure by design.  

Network profiles will be downloaded when devices are in place 

 The adoption of eSIM will be boosted in 2025 by two factors. The first is the standard SGP.32, which converges consumer and business remote SIM provisioning approaches. The second is the iPhone, because iPhones released in the US since the iPhone 14 are eSIM only and do not include a SIM slot (internationally outside of the US, iPhone is dual-SIM – nano and eSIM – at the time of writing).  

These two developments will propel more MNOs and MVNOs to produce downloadable network profiles.  

This is good for enterprises because eSIM supports flexible IoT implementations. It enables network profiles to be provisioned over-the-air so enterprises aren’t locked into the choices they make pre-deployment. eSIM also enables enterprises to assign a single stock keeping unit (SKU) to a product family, regardless of where products are being deployed in the world, making manufacturing and distribution processes simpler.  

MVNOs will differentiate around value-added services 

There is a growing need for value-added services to support and enable enterprises to achieve their goals and meet their objectives for the IoT. In-demand services include security, a globally distributed network and software components and MVNOs will be able to differentiate themselves around their capabilities in these areas.  

It stands to reason, because more goes into getting actionable data from IoT solutions than simply connecting them. Solutions need intelligent design, security and management. In 2025, MVNOs must strive to demonstrate their abilities to solve more pieces of the puzzle for enterprises with complex deployments that have choice when it comes to partnering for their connectivity.  

2G/3G network shutdowns will expose SMS-based applications  

2G/3G network shutdowns have been going on for some time but enterprises still need to be aware of the impact.  

With SMS, there are two considerations. Firstly, with the ‘voice centric’ setting. Regardless of whether devices are intended for voice, in many cases it was left by default in the device configuration. That means the device looks to connect at a signalling level to 2G/3G and 4G bearers. When the network offers only 4G, it can go into a connection loop.  

Secondly, in a normal 2G/3G/4G bearer configuration, a device will use 4G for data, but if SMS is needed, will step back to 2G/3G to fulfil the short message activity. 4G networks do support SMS but through SMS over diameter and that is not necessarily supported by default by all core/connectivity network providers. 

This issue with SMS serves to highlight again that enterprises must be vigilant to network sunsetting developments. They need to understand any potential impact, talk to their connectivity providers about the implications and plan any necessary action in good time. 

NB-IoT’s future will depend on specific regions and applications 

The decision by AT&T to decommission Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) has raised questions about the long-term viability of this low-power wide-area network (LPWAN). While NB-IoT will continue to play a role in specific markets and applications—such as metering and environmental sensors—its future is increasingly tied to regional priorities and use cases. Enterprises must consult with network providers to ensure the suitability of NB-IoT for their needs. 

As for 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap), its adoption remains geographically constrained, with deployment activity largely limited to China. The majority of IoT use cases do not require the full capabilities of 5G so Redcap is an important standards evolution but it isn’t poised to become a mainstream option in the short term. This is primarily due to the lack of widespread 5G Standalone (SA) infrastructure and the slow progress in establishing global roaming agreements. These factors will take several years to mature, making RedCap an option for the future rather than a present-day solution. 

For IoT deployments being made in the short to medium term, LTE Cat-1 BIS and LTE-M remain the most reliable choices for the majority of use cases. These technologies offer the affordability, reliability, and coverage necessary to meet enterprise needs today. While NB-IoT will retain relevance in some scenarios, enterprises must carefully evaluate their connectivity requirements in consultation with expert network providers to make informed decisions. 

To find out how Wireless Logic can help you in 2025, talk to one of our IoT experts by calling 0330 056 3300 or contact us here.