IoT And 5G: New Revenues, Use Cases, Value-Added Services


5G-DRIVEN IOT USE CASES


SUCCESSFUL BILLING MODELS

At the same time, operators need to expand into new service areas to offer value-added services to IoT customers. In the example above, an operator might not be able to convince the vineyard owner to pay a monthly data fee for each sensor installed. However, by working with the vineyard owner to find the appropriate billing model for the crop yield monitoring solution, the operator would forge a good business relationship that could generate upsell or cross-sell opportunities.
The operator could offer data analytics services to help the vineyard owner increase grape yield, or provide IoT solutions in other areas of the business: storage, fermentation process, bottling, transportation and more.

This example shows that mobile operators would benefit from adding new skills and service capabilities complementary to IoT businesses, instead of banking on providing network connectivity alone.
The value in 5G-enabled IoT connectivity is not just in the connectivity itself, but also in the data generated and the insights achieved.
Data analytics services are likely to be a key value-added service for operator-led IoT solutions going forward. As more and more use cases are discovered for IoT, and more and more devices come online for the first time, mobile operators are in a perfect position to establish new and innovative relationships with their enterprise customers.
Kristen Hanich is a research analyst at Parks Associates.