Europe’s largest telecommunications providers are gearing up for a battle in the lucrative race to connect cars, homes, utilities and other everyday devices to smartphones and other wireless devices.

The ‘Internet of Things’ market is the catchall term for an electronic device which can be wirelessly connected to the Internet. For years, AT&T Inc. and rival Verizon Communications Inc.’s Verizon Wireless have lead the charge for U.S. telecom operators, and have seen niche IoT services such as parcel tracking expand into global businesses.

But after seeing their core telecom revenue growth being outstripped by “machine-to-machine” businesses, and with traditional revenue streams being stretched by tough market conditions, Europe’s telecoms firms are seeing IoT as a prime source of new revenue.

“We are one of the few parts of the organization that grows,” says Telefónica SA’s global IoT chief Surya Mendonça.

According to network systems firm Cisco , the IoT market is expected to grow into a $19 trillion market over the next 10 years, as IoT networks for sectors such as traffic systems, shipping, rail freight and industrial manufacturing take shape. Meanwhile, the number of IoT-focused developers will leap to 4 million in 2020 from 300,000 this year, says telecom group Interoute.