According to a new report by research firm Berg Insight, the number of M2M subscribers worldwide rose by 23 percent in 2015, to 265.2 million. East Asia was the largest regional market, with 90.4 million M2M subscribers, followed by Western Europe and North America with 59.0 million and 52.5 million, respectively. Over the next five years, the installed base of mobile M2M devices is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.9 percent, and the researchers expect the 1 billion mark to be reached in 2022.

Tarifica’s Take

M2M, which is growing extremely vigorously in both the business and consumer sectors and has long since expanded beyond its base in heavy industry, presents huge revenue opportunities for mobile operators. As low-power wireless communication technology proliferates, in tandem with growing integration of M2M connections with 4G/LTE networks, and the connected car sector continues to grow, MNOs are in position to profit tremendously from providing M2M connectivity—a desirable state of affairs in light of the declining ARPU from traditional mobile services. The rapid growth indicated in the Berg report betokens near-term revenue opportunities, and we suggest that any MNOs that are not currently taking full advantage of them do so as soon as possible.