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Networking and telecommunications leader Ericsson announced a new approach to the cellular IoT market aimed at reorienting its product offerings to take advantage of the mobile IoT's key markets.

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Ericsson's status as a major partner in the telco space means that its pivot in posture around the cellular IoT market — which comes at the outset of 5G — will help define how solutions are targeted at the market and shape the contours of its segments.

Ericsson’s new approach means that its cellular IoT solutions will now fall within one of four market segments, each of which rely on a different set of technologies and have specific use cases:

Massive IoT: This segment encompasses IoT devices that are used in huge numbers through a limited number of access points, often using low-powered networks like NB-IoT. Solutions like agricultural sensor management and supply chain logistics tracking will fit under this area, all of which use a similar connectivity stack. This segment is poised to be upended by 5G in some instances — the new standard will offer improved Massive IoT potential thanks to support for more simultaneous connections.

Broadband IoT: This new segment is geared toward solutions that can span broad distances, much like massive IoT, but which also need faster data speeds and higher bandwidth. The networking company will bundle solutions for the automotive sector, drones, AR/VR, wearables, and smart manufacturing in this segment. Customers using such solutions will also be able to use connectivity tools like advanced group handling and network slicing to optimize data throughput and performance.

Industrial Automation: Another new segment, Industrial Automation solutions are aimed at advanced industrial use cases. In particular, solutions in this segment use networking technology to provide data to applications with high connectivity requirements and which require hyper-accurate indoor positioning. They also feature distinct architectures tailored to each industrial circumstance and require strong security attributes.

Critical IoT: The most forward-looking of Ericsson’s IoT segment, these solutions focus on use cases that require almost instantaneous communication and nearly perfect reliability in connecting to remote servers. 5G networks will be a key tool in enabling the growth of this practice thanks to the coming networks' reduced latency, which will enable that real-time transmission of information. Solutions in Critical IoT will be targeted at use cases such as smart manufacturing, intelligent transportation, healthcare and AR/VR.

The IoT is a key source of growth for network operators and telecommunications equipment providers.There will be over 4 billion cellular IoT connections by 2024, according to Ericsson, which will represent a growing segment even as the consumer cellular market approaches saturation.

What Ericsson’s doing now is creating a more clearly defined cellular IoT proposition by grouping together its various solutions by the use cases they serve and the connectivity stack that they employ. Starting this year and moving forward, the onset of 5G — replete with its own set of relative strengths and weaknesses — will make clear delineations like this even more critical.

Ericsson's early distinctions between the sorts of communication technology appropriate for each market segment could help it maintain its key role as a solution provider and partner in the telecommunications space.