Choosing a carrier for your next IoT project? Here's everything you need to know to make an informed decision.
Choosing a carrier for your organization’s next IoT project? It’s a huge decision.
Beyond network speed and pricing, you might be looking at a variety of considerations to support the functionality you desire so that you may be able to solve your customers’ problems.
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The is a system of devices or machines that are connected to each other through a wireless network. IoT use cases are endless, and they are most often used to collect and share data to trigger specific functions. Cellular IoT leverages the same mobile networks as smartphones to connect these devices.
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Consider these facts when evaluating your cellular IoT use case and requirements:
61% of companies experienced cyberattacks in 2017, up from 55% in 2016. Each IoT device is a potential point of attack for cybercriminals. The increasing trend in cyberattacks means that security is a huge factor for IoT solutions.
Cellular IoT connections will reach 3.5 billion by 2023. That’s a lot of traffic. Network and data management are important right now. Having full control over your carrier service and cellular IoT connectivity will be even more critical to optimizing performance in the years to come.
Investment in IoT technology is expected to reach $15 trillion before 2025. That’s a lot of money. That also means new IoT solutions are going to pop up, so how will you differentiate yourself? A carrier service that performs on-demand could be the difference between success and failure for new IoT solutions.
When looking for an IoT provider, a few key factors to keep in mind are security, network reliability, and control. Considering the prevalence of security issues in IoT, it’s important to find a provider that has measures in place to minimize these risks. Network reliability and redundancy are necessary to ensure that your devices are always connected, and that your mission-critical applications are not susceptible to poor network performance. Finally, a provider should ideally allow users to customize their connectivity needs through an easy to use interface or API.
Let’s take a deeper look at these factors and what they mean for your IoT applications.
Many cellular IoT providers send traffic over the public internet. This is a major security concern because it could expose hundreds or thousands of your IoT devices to cyberattacks.
Your IoT solution is much more secure if your carrier can egress to their own private LTE network. That way, your data is encrypted and safe from malicious threats on the open internet, from the device all the way to the mobile operator’s core network.
It’s very common for cellular IoT providers to outsource their core network to a major operator like T-Mobile. Unfortunately, if there’s a performance issue with the network, your provider has very little power to correct the issue—because they don’t own the network.
It’s much better to work with a carrier that offers global IoT connectivity through their own global core network. A private network offers lower latency, better reliability, and your carrier can help you resolve any issues with network connectivity or performance, right when it happens, if it ever happens.
If a carrier owns its own core network then it means that the carrier has full control over it, thus passing that control over to you. This means giving you the features and functionality to command your SIM cards and network whichever way you see fit.
This enables things like active steering, where you can select which operator networks you want to connect to, rather than just establishing a priority list (passive steering). Don’t want to connect to the Sprint network? Simply set your SIM card (or cards) to deny attachment to that network.
That way, you have more control over where your data goes, creating IoT solutions that are carefully tailored to your use case.
If your cellular IoT provider can deliver these three core capabilities, you’ll be set to deliver an amazing IoT solution and capture your share of the IoT market.
Telnyx checks all of the boxes for an IoT connectivity provider with network ownership, private LTE offering, and an easy to use API and Mission Control Portal that gives you maximum control over how your SIMs connect.
If you’re ready to get started, get in touch with our team of experts! Or, dive right in and sign up to get started!
What is an IoT connectivity provider? An IoT connectivity provider supplies the networks, SIMs or eSIMs, and management tools that let devices send data to applications at scale. They also offer security features, fleet management, and SLAs so enterprises can run large deployments reliably.
What is IoT connectivity? IoT connectivity is the mix of networks and protocols that move device data to cloud or edge systems for processing and action. Beyond IP data paths, device-to-human notifications often rely on SMS or MMS, so understanding messaging types is part of connectivity planning.
How do I choose the right IoT connectivity for my use case? Start by defining coverage needs, mobility, power budget, bandwidth, latency, security, and target total cost. Map those requirements to options like LTE-M or NB-IoT for long battery life, 5G or Ethernet for high throughput, or satellite where terrestrial coverage is limited.
Should I put IoT devices on a separate network? Yes, isolate IoT devices on a segmented network to reduce risk from vulnerable endpoints. Use a dedicated SSID or VLAN, apply least-privilege access, and monitor traffic for anomalies.
Which network technologies are best for IoT devices? Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, and Z-Wave fit short-range or local mesh needs, while cellular options like 5G, LTE-M, and NB-IoT serve wide-area connectivity. LoRaWAN enables low-power long-range telemetry, and satellite covers remote areas that lack terrestrial service.
Can IoT devices send images, and when should I use SMS or MMS for alerts? Yes, many deployments pair data connectivity with human-facing alerts, using SMS for short text and MMS for images or rich media, and the SMS vs. MMS tradeoffs determine cost and payload limits. Use MMS when a device needs to transmit photos, schematics, or QR codes from the field, and reserve SMS for time-sensitive text-only alarms.
Who offers the best IoT connectivity services? There is no single best provider because the right choice depends on geography, scale, device power profile, and SLA expectations. Evaluate global coverage, multi-IMSI eUICC, security and observability, pricing transparency, and workflows like group or broadcast MMS if your fleet must fan out media alerts to teams.
