Essential Guide: What to Look for When Selecting Your IoT Connectivity Provider

For businesses looking to develop their first IoT solution, or to add a new connectivity option to their range, choosing the right technology and provider is a critical step in unlocking full potential and achieving effective scale. With diverse network technologies available, from cellular to LPWAN and increasingly satellite IoT, it’s important to systematically assess your connectivity strategy and select the right partner to ensure they, and their solution, support you in achieving your goals from project start through to market entry and beyond.

This checklist helps you evaluate your current IoT setup’s connectivity needs and guides you through key considerations to optimise your network architecture, including how satellite IoT can complement and enhance your existing solutions.

Choosing the Right IoT Connectivity Technology

• Map Your Coverage Gaps: Identify the geographic or operational areas where your product will be deployed, or where your connectivity falls short, especially remote or hard-to-reach locations. This will help you narrow down your technology options to terrestrial-based solutions, such as cellular or WI-FI, if you only need coverage within populated areas, or LPWAN or satellite, if you need coverage in sparsely populated or hard to reach areas. If you need both, then a hybrid or 5G NTN solution is your answer.
  
• Identify Performance Needs: What kind of connectivity performance does your target use case need? Consider message size, how quickly you need data to be delivered, the level of security required, and whether device battery life is a concern. The combination of these factors will quickly point you to the technology that can best meet your needs, whether it is cellular for use cases needing medium-high data rate with low latency, GEO-based satellite for high data rates and real time delivery where battery life is no concern, or LEO-based satellite and 5G NTN for low-medium data rates with low latency and longer battery life.
  
• Understand Use Case Requirements: Different use cases—from infrequent sensor updates to near real-time asset tracking—may demand different connectivity characteristics. Whilst streaming large amounts of data with zero latency is ideal, there are significant savings to be found if you can optimise your data requirements for a smaller message size, or your use case can tolerate a small delay in message delivery.

Key Factors When Selecting an IoT Connectivity Provider

Selecting the right IoT connectivity provider is as crucial as choosing the connectivity technology itself. Here are essential factors to consider:

• Industry Expertise: Choose providers with demonstrated experience and a deep understanding of the specific demands and challenges of IoT.
  
• Network Technology Options: Look for providers that support diverse connectivity types, including satellite IoT for reliable coverage in remote areas, as well as terrestrial networks.
  
• Hybrid and Multi-Network Support: Ensure providers offer flexibility to integrate multiple network types or protocols, enabling seamless switching and maximising coverage and reliability.
  
• Pricing and Service Models: Favour partners with transparent, usage-based pricing with flexible subscription or Space-as-a-Service models that reduce upfront costs and scale with your needs.
  
• Platform Capabilities: Consider providers with robust platforms for device management, data analytics, and lifecycle support.
  
• Customer Support and Onboarding: A provider offering strong technical support and a guided onboarding process can significantly ease deployment and scaling.

For example, Myriota offers a platform of satellite IoT connectivity options with their UltraLite and HyperPulse services, and a global ecosystem of partners with flexible service options tailored to diverse IoT applications. With ten years of experience developing solutions for the unique constraints of remote IoT, the Myriota team enables and supports partners to deliver reliable, field-proven solutions.

Final Thoughts

Refining your IoT connectivity approach by choosing the right technologies and provider, and considering the inclusion of satellite IoT where appropriate, can unlock new growth opportunities, especially for deployments in diverse and challenging environments. By following this checklist, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions that improve reliability, expand reach, and optimise costs. To take the next step, you can also consult with our team for tailored guidance on selecting the right connectivity strategy for your business.